Summer
by OhhLayla
Summary: The Jonas Brothers make great neighbors, friends and boyfriends. Ashleigh is pleasantly surprised when the boys move into her old house and a relationship develops between her and Joe.
1. Chapter 1

**You know the drill. I don't own things that aren't of my own mind. Compliments and criticisms welcome. **

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"We've got a buyer!"

"Oh thank God. I thought we were never going to sell that place." Ashleigh's mom answered her husband with a heavy sigh of relief.

Ashleigh overheard her parents conversation in the other room. Her heart sunk. It sounded to her as if they had finally sold the neighboring house, their old house, after it had been on the market for over a year. Her parent's were obviously relieved but she wasn't. They'd lived in that house for most of Ashleigh's life and saying that she was attached was a dramatic understatement. Though she knew it was silly, she secretly hoped the house would never sell, forcing them to move back in.

Ashleigh's parents built the five bedroom, slightly extravagant house when their business had been in its prime. Money was not an issue and they had wanted something to show for all of their hard work. They were happy in that house. They had made so many memories, but Ashleigh felt that it was the house that held them. She feared that when the house was sold, the memories would fade. As the years passed business had slowed along with the rest of the economy. The house payment became to much to handle. They held on to the house as long as they could, but finally had to put it up for sale. Her parent's decided to split the land and build a new house significantly smaller than the first. Three bedrooms with the only unnecessary addition being an in-ground pool that the parents had promised. The house was considerably smaller, but large enough for Ashleigh and her brother and sister.

"Ashleigh, come here! Good news," called Ashleigh's mom from the kitchen.

She walked in sullenly with an equally unenthusiastic, "I heard."

"Come on, you know it had to happen sooner or later. This is good news," chimed in her unsympathetic father.

"Yeah. I know. But still." She didn't want someone else living in _their _house, sleeping in _her_ room. "I have to go get ready for dress rehearsal. They're taking pictures for the year book tonight." With that she turned to leave before being stopped by her dad.

"Alright, but they are coming over in a little bit to sign the papers and get the keys and everything. You should at least come down and introduce yourself."

"Who's they," asked Ashleigh, getting interested.

"There's six of them. They seem nice enough. Four boys though," said her dad while shaking his head. "I'm going to have to get out the old shot gun, put some bars on your windows. Maybe get a pad lock for your jeans."

"Ha. Ha, dad. Real funny. I have to go get ready. I'm going to be late. Call me down when they get here." Ashleigh made her way to her room and hastily threw on her costume. The pencil skirt and blouse were to make her look like a savvy lawyer. The four inch heels were a desperate attempt to add some height to her otherwise unintimidating 5'1" frame. Then came the daunting task of stage make-up. Eye shadow, eye liner, blush for now and save the lipstick for later. With a final look in the mirror and a rushed tousle of the hair, Ashleigh grabbed her things and headed for the door.

Just as she hit the stairs, her mom appeared at the bottom. "They're here. Come say hi."

"Okay, but I'm in a hurry. I'm already five minutes late." Ashleigh followed her mom down the hallway and into the kitchen. The four boy and their parents were standing across the room and smiled politely at the arrival of the young girl. Ashleigh barely had time for to squeak out a meek 'hello' when she remembered that she forgot the baby powder she would need to gray her dark brown hair for her role as an older woman in the third of the four one act plays her school was putting on. "Sorry, I'll be right back." She laid her armful of things on the counter as she scurried back up the stairs and grabbed the baby powder as quickly as she could. Upon returning to the kitchen she threw it in her bag and began to properly introduce herself.

"Hi, sorry. I'm Ashleigh." As she quickly studied the boys faces she felt a sense of familiarity. But she blamed it on the fact that they all looked alike- handsome.

"This is Paul and Denise Jonas," said Ashleigh's mom. The boys proceeded to introduce themselves.

"I'm Kevin," said the boy who looked to be the oldest.

"Nick."

"Joe," proceeded the brother with the best looks in Ashleigh's opinion. He smiled and blushed before sticking his hands in the pockets of his tight fitting jeans. "And that's Frankie."

"It's really nice to meet you all, but I have to run. I'm late for dress rehearsal. I'm sure I'll see you around." With thoughts racing she grabbed her things and left.

Only to be struck with realization moments later.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks guys! Here's chapter two. You may think it's moving slow, but I want it to be realistic. **

**Read, review & enjoy!**

Thoughts swam through Ashleigh's head as she drove down her driveway. When she hit the first stop sign she realized what had just taken place.

_Jonas...Jonas_, she thought to herself. _They're on Hannah Montana! Oh my God! They're famous. They just bought our house._ She continued internally freaking out as she made her way toward her high school. Baylor was a small town; Baylor high school was equally as small. Four hundred kids made up the entire student body at Baylor High. The play wasn't a huge production, seeing as it was limited by inadequate funding, but it was a big to-do in the small town. There were four dress rehearsals this week, followed by three showings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Ashleigh should have been more nervous, but she couldn't seem to get focused on the play itself.

She pulled into the school parking lot approximately eight minutes after she left home. Stepping out into the brisk Spring air, she juggled her armload of supplies and headed into the school. Once into the locker room that was doubling as a dressing room, she ran into one of her good friends, Jackie.

"Guess what?" Ashleigh asked nonchalantly.

"What?" Jackie automatically answered.

Ashleigh had planned on telling her about what just happened, but then had second thoughts. "We, uhh, sold the house today."

"Really? To who?"

"Oh, I'm not sure. Some family," Ashleigh lied, figuring it wasn't really a good idea to blab at the moment.

"Well, that's good."

"Yeah, I guess," responded Ashleigh dreamily. She couldn't stop thinking about the encounter a few minutes previous. She dared to let herself daydream about the one who had introduced himself as Joe. She had felt an instant attraction, but just chalked it up to the fact that he was someone famous. She must have known it subconsciously. She didn't want to make something out of nothing.

The rehearsal didn't go as well as Miss Dunham would have liked. Ashleigh missed a few cues, there were sound issues and some lost props. Ashleigh herself wasn't worried. It would come together in the end just as it had her freshman, sophomore and junior years.

At the conclusion of the rehearsal, Ashleigh sped home in the fading sunlight. She slowed as she passed her od house, wanting to maybe catch a glimpse of the famous family. No luck though and she continued up her own driveway. To her surprise there was an extra car in the driveway; the same one that had been there when she left hours earlier. Curious now, she hurried into the house to see what was going on.

Ashleigh walked into the kitchen in her same get-up, changed only in the fact that she was now slightly disheveled. Upon arrival she was greeted with Joe, Kevin and her own little brother, Justin, standing across the kitchen island and holding various items of the bonfire nature. She asked a silent question by giving a quizzical and confused look to the boys when Justin spoke up.

"Mom and dad invited them to stay for a bonfire since the movers are moving all their stuff in right now anyway." Justin was fourteen going on twenty. His shaggy brown hair hung in his eyes because he refused haircuts. At about 5' 6" he stood taller than both his sisters and his mother. He had a thing for girls and video games. Typical. He was normally quiet but seemed to be getting along just fine with the new neighbors. The other boys smiled in agreement.

"Which was lucky for us," began Kevin holding a packages of hotdogs and buns, "because we haven't eaten all day." Joe smiled awkwardly and nodded in agreement.

"Oh, well, great," Ashleigh offered with a courteous smile. "I'll just go change and be down in a minute." With that Ashleigh headed for the stairs in a state of utter bewilderment. For her, this day had started off on a bad note. But things were changing so quickly and she hadn't any idea what could possibly come from this sudden and dramatic change. She got into her room, shut the door and stripped herself of her costume. Peering closely at her reflection in the mirror she whispered out loud, "This make-up has got to go." She struggled to wipe off some of the dark eye shadow and blush. Semi-successfully ridding herself of the clown look and resembling something more normal. She grabbed the jeans she had worn to school earlier off of the floor and pulled them on. They were American Eagle, size two short and still too long. But what was a girl to do. She then threw on a tank top and a plain red fitted hoodie. With one last glance in the mirror, she slipped on a pair of flip-flops and headed for the back yard.

It was a sight Ashleigh thought she'd never see. The Jonas Brothers and their mother, along with her parents sitting and standing around a bonfire in her back yard. _This is just too weird_, she thought to herself. As she made her way past the pool and towards the fire he brother appeared from around the side of the house, half carrying and half dragging more chairs so everyone could sit. Justin set up the chairs around the fire while his mom arranged all the food and drinks on a table. As soon as Justin was done he immediately began cooking three hotdogs over the fire. He was a growing boy and he could eat. The other boys followed suit grabbing hotdogs and marshmallows. Ashleigh took a seat next to her brother and Nick sat down on the other side of her.

"This was really nice of you guys," Nick directed at Ashleigh. "I couldn't take one more night of gross room service. And I can't remember the last time we just got to relax around a bonfire and just have fun." At this point Ashleigh wasn't sure if they knew whether or not she and her family knew exactly who they were. She didn't want to say anything because she didn't want them to think she was just befriending them because of their status. But she also didn't want to offend them by them thinking she had never heard of them or didn't like them or something. The truth was that she had heard of them, but she had never really listened to their music. She was kind of old for Disney Channel and Hannah Montana and really just hadn't had the opportunity to listen to them.

The evening continued with small talk and no one mentioning the 'famous' Jonas Brothers. It was around 10 o'clock and everything was pleasant. Everyone had finished eating with the exception of a few marshmallows being toasted on the fire, when Paul Jonas joined them.

"They're finished moving for the night. I hope you left some food for your starving father," Paul Joked with his sons. He grabbed some of the remaining food and ate quickly, making it very apparent that he wasn't kidding about being starving. After he was done he got into a conversation about fishing with Ashleigh's father. Before she knew it, her parents, along with Denise, Paul and Frankie were walking down to the stocked pond that was Ashleigh's dad's pride and joy. Justin retired to his Xbox along with Nick and Ashleigh, Kevin and Joe were left sitting by the dying fire.

There was a brief and awkward moment of silence before Ashleigh got up the courage to address the issue of 'The Jonas Brothers'.

"You know, I know who you guys are." She immediately regretted it as soon as it left her mouth. It came out sounding accusatory and creepy; not at all like she had planned. They responded with awkward looks that showed they didn't understand what she meant. Her cheeks blushed a fiery red over her already tan skin as she fumbled to correct herself. "I mean. Uhh, wow. What I meant was that I know that you guys are the Jonas Brothers. I just didn't want to make a big deal about it. But then I didn't want you to feel bad if you thought I didn't know who you were at all." Ashleigh finished this rambling outburst with a small, awkward laugh and hid her face in her sleeve-hidden hands.

The boys laughed and made an attempt to make Ashleigh feel better. "It's completely alright," said Joe between bouts of laughter. "It was nice to have you guys not freak out. It felt really normal for a change."

"I will admit though," interjected Kevin, "I was hurt when I thought you didn't know who we were." He stuck out his bottom lip in a faux-pouting face and they all laughed. Small talk continued for a little bit longer and then the parents returned and announced they would be leaving.

"Well hey," began Joe to Ashleigh, "let's exchange numbers so we can all get together again. We don't know anyone here, or know of anything to do here. So you'll have to give us the grand tour of Baylor sometime."

Trying not to show her extreme pleasure at this unexpected turn of events, Ashleigh nonchalantly pulled out her phone and tried not to shake as she recited her own number and entered Joe and Kevin's into her phone. This was followed by an almost awkward moment of how to say goodbye. They had just met, but obviously clicked. Ashleigh locked eyes with Joe for what seemed like an hour, but in reality was only a few short seconds. They exchanged their goodbyes and Ashleigh returned to her room.

As she got ready for bed she couldn't stop thinking about that moment of intense eye contact. She was sure she was imagining it but she felt as if maybe there was a connection there. Not wanting to get her hopes up, she tried to push all thoughts of the new neighbors out of her head. As she laid her head down on her pillow she was unsuccessful and spent the remaining time until she fell asleep thinking about Joe Jonas and all the things that _could _happen.


	3. Chapter 3

**I've got so many ideas guys. I'm trying to update as quickly as possible. I hope you like it. More reviews would be wonderful. I really want to know what you think. Thanks!!**

**Read, Review & Enjoy!**

Ashleigh's night was restless as usual. She tossed and turned fitfully as she faded in and out of dreams, none of which were memorable enough for her to remember in the morning. She was roused from her state of semi-consciousness by her loud and abrasive alarm clock. She groggily reached over to her bedside table and felt around for the snooze button. To Ashleigh, Tuesdays were just as bad as Mondays. She laid her head back on the pillow, drifting off to sleep, only to be awoken again nine minutes later by the same sequence of chimes. Hitting the snooze button one more time, she laid back on her pillow with her hands behind her head.

"I feel like this is all a dream," she said out loud, trying to reassure herself that she really was awake and that the events of the last twenty four hours really did happen. She closed her eyes and visualized the boys sitting around the fire, laughing and having a good time. She hoped there would be more nights like that, but knew that was wishful thinking. They'd probably only be here for a week or two and then be off on another tour or movie shoot or what ever it was that they were going to do next.

As the alarm finally sounded one last time, Ashleigh sighed and turned it off. Throwing off the covers, she got up and walked slowly to the bathroom. She turned on the shower and while waiting for the water to get warm, began scrutinizing every aspect of her appearance. After taking off her pajamas she stepped on the scale. 111.2. She wasn't happy with that number, even though she didn't have a reason not to be. She always tried to give off an air of confidence, but she was really just like every other girl... insecure.

Ashleigh stepped into the shower and began her daily routine of getting ready for school. She dried her hair, brushed her teeth, did her make-up and got dressed. She performed these routine tasks absentmindedly as she thought about the new neighbors. Were they over there right now? They probably weren't even awake. She grabbed her purse, her keys and her cell phone and yelled for her little brother to hurry up. Justin was always making her late. Her older sister, Cary, who went to a local college, didn't have class until noon, and was still sleeping upstairs.

The day at school was very normal. Ashleigh's schedule was light, this being her senior year and all. She went through the motions of every class and study hall, counting the minutes until she could get home again. In between classes she would constantly check her phone, hoping for a text message from maybe Joe or Kevin. She didn't get either and kept going through her phone book, looking at her numbers and wishing she had something to say to one of them.

_Wow, I'm being such a little girl about this! I need to get a grip,_ she thought to herself. _Nothing is going to come from this. I'm not going to get my hopes up. Joe Jonas is way too good for me anyway. Even if he was slightly attracted to me, if he knew the things I've done, he'd never give me a second glance. _

Ashleigh wasn't a bad person, but she wasn't an angel either. She had rebelled her sophomore year. She got wrapped up in partying and guys and alcohol. Things she was sure Joe and his brothers didn't do. She wasn't one for long relationships and had never really let her guard down for a boy and she wasn't about to start now. She tried her hardest not to let her imagination get the best of her, but deep down she couldn't help but think that _anything _was possible.

After what had seemed like an eternity, school let out and Ashleigh drove home. When she got to her house she noticed the moving truck in the Jonas' driveway again. She looked over from her back porch trying to see if the whole family was there. She didn't see anyone but the movers. Trying not to be too much of a stalker, Ashleigh went inside and decide she couldn't take having the secret anymore. She called her absolute best friend Kayley to tell her about everything that had happened.

A Lil' Wayne song played as Kayley's ringback tone until she finally picked up, "Speak to me."

"Haha. Shut up. What are you doing?"

"Nothing right now. Me and Chris are hanging out later after he gets off work. Why? What's up?"

Ashleigh racked her brain with how to explain everything. "Ok well you are not going to believe this. You know the Jonas Brothers?" The conversation continued for another hour after that. Ashleigh told Kayley everything that had happened. Kayley didn't exactly know that much about them. She knew they had something to do with Disney Channel but that was it. During the conversation, Kayley had googled them to get a clearer picture of what was happening.

"Ashleigh!" she exclaimed. "They are cute! I'm coming over right now."

Ashleigh laughed and continued, "They aren't even moved in yet I don't think. I think they're still staying in a hotel. But I swear, as soon as I spot one of them I'll give you a call."

"You better."

"Promise. But for now, don't tell anyone, ok? I don't want to cause a commotion. Besides, we want them to ourselves right?" Both girls giggled like excited school girls, chatted for a few more minutes and then ended the call. Before she knew it, it as time for dress rehearsal. She got changed, studied her lines quickly and prepared to leave. As she was pulling out of her driveway, she passed a black SUV turning into the Jonas'. Paul and Denise waved to her and she smiled and waved back. Seconds later she was passing another dark car and being waved at by Kevin and Joe from the front seat. She waved back and cursed the bad timing.

This dress rehearsal went much smoother and Miss Dunham was pleased. Jackie had asked Ashleigh if she found anything out about her new neighbors but Ashleigh just said she hadn't really had time to look into it. When they were done Ashleigh hurried to get home. She pulled into her driveway and was getting her things out of the back seat when she heard someone call her name.

"Hey Ashleigh!" It as Joe. He was calling to her from one driveway over. Her heart instantly skipped a beat, then felt like it was beating out of her chest. She felt herself flush, but she tried to play it cool.

"Hi," she answered cheerfully. She noticed Joe looking her up and down and though she didn't think it was possible, she blushed even more. "Oh, I had dress rehearsal. I swear I don't wear the same outfit everyday." She laughed nervously and he smiled. His smile was gorgeous and Ashleigh was totally smitten.

"It's cool. What play are you in?"

"We're doing four one act plays. They aren't anything you would have ever heard of. We can't afford to do real plays, but we do the best we can. Opening night is Friday, getting kinda down to the wire." The small talk was pleasant and Ashleigh felt oddly comfortable.

"That's cool," Joe said and seemed genuinely interested. "This is going to be the first night in the new house. It's really nice to be out of the hotel."

"Yeah, I'm sure. Which one is your room?" Ashleigh asked, wondering who had her old bedroom.

"Huh?" When he gave her a confused look she realized that he didn't know it was her old house.

"Oh," she began with a little bit of nervous laughter, "that was our old house. My room was the one at the end of the long hallway upstairs."

"Really? That's my room. I didn't know you guys used to live there."

"Yeah, long story." There was an awkward lull and Joe noticed her struggling with all of the stuff she needed to carry inside.

"You want some help with that?" he asked.

"Sure, that would be great." He grabbed a bag and some other miscellaneous items and she got the rest out of her car. She led the way inside and up to her bedroom where she instructed him to just throw the stuff on the floor. He looked around at all the boxes yet to be unpacked.

"Hey, looks like my room," he joked. He surveyed the room, studying the open boxes of books and clothes and pictures. His eyes came to a halt at a framed picture of Ashleigh at her junior prom. Ashleigh swore she saw the tiniest flicker of disappointment in his eyes, but just disregarded it.

"Is that your boyfriend?"

"No, just a friend. I don't date too much. We just went to prom together."

"Oh, well…your dress was pretty," he added. It seemed as if he was trying to cover up trying to find out if she was single or not. But Ashleigh had a bad habit of reading way too much into things.

"Thanks. And thanks for helping me with this stuff."

"Anytime," he smiled. "Well, I guess I'll see you around." She walked him downstairs and watched him walk over to his house. She could not help feeling elated and decided to put on some music and unpack a little bit. On a whim she decided to download their CD on iTunes and was pleasantly surprised at how much she actually enjoyed them.

Ashleigh went to bed that night in a wonderful mood. Not knowing that she wouldn't see Joe, or any of the boys for that matter, until Friday.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four! Hah. I'm excited. I really hope you like it. I promise it will pick up soon. I just don't want it to seem too cheesy and unrealistic, you know? Thanks so much to everyone that has reviewed. It means a lot. More reviews would be grrrrreat!**

**Muah!**

**Read, Review & Enjoy!**

"Where's my mic?" Ashleigh was panicking. It was five minutes until show time and she couldn't find the sound person with her mic. Her stomach was churning, but empty. Ashleigh didn't believe in eating on the day of opening night. She had a severe phobia of throwing up onstage and the thought of food on that Friday made her stomach sick. She called again or Derek, grabbing a crew member and screeching into his headset. No luck.

Ashleigh had spent hours getting ready. She started with a long shower, followed by spending half an hour on her toenails. She had gotten her nails done the previous day, wanting to look perfect on stage. She spent almost an hour on her hair. Blow drying, straightening and hair spraying until she was sure it would remain flawless on stage. Ok, maybe not flawless. The stage lights mixed with nervousness could make a girl break a sweat. She took her time getting dressed, trying not to ruffle the clothes her mom had perfectly pressed. She waited until she had got to school to put on her stage make-up before helping everyone else with theirs.

She paced around nervously for almost twenty minutes before the show, reciting her lines to herself. She was most nervous about opening the play with a five minute monologue. If she messed up, there was no on to help her recover. If she blanked out, she would look like a fool on stage alone. She'd had plenty of acting experience and had never had a major crisis on stage, but she remained nervous nonetheless.

"Hey, Ashleigh. Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you. You need to get your mic on."

"Are you serious, Derek?! Ughhh." Ashleigh ran her mic up through her shirt with an exasperated sigh.

"Lights!" someone called. The lights in the gym went down and music began to play. Ashleigh took her place center stage and the curtains began to open. With a deep breath, Ashleigh began.

"When you've been in the business as long as I have, it seems like nothing could surprise you. I thought I had seen it all. But I was wrong. Seriously wrong." Ashleigh delivered her opening lines flawlessly as she surveyed the crowd. The auditorium was almost completely filled and upon making this realization, she became exhilarated and continued acting with out hesitation.

At the end of the first play, Ashleigh came out last during the curtain call, waved to the audience and grabbed hands with her cast mates to bow. As she was coming up from the final bow, she thought she noticed one of her neighbors among the crowd, sitting between some very excited and proud parents. But before she had time to investigate further, the curtain was closing again and Ashleigh had to change, with no time to worry about who was in the audience. She rushed back to the locker room after handing off her mic and changed into her next costume. It was humorous to say the least. It was an old lady polyester dress with matching jacket in an ugly teal color. She stuffed a pillow in her shirt and shorts. All of the old lady costumes were a bit over the top. She pinned her hair up and slid on a silver old lady wig. After some magic with make-up she was transformed into Mary Lou, a hussy of an old woman.

After she was finished getting ready she went back to the stage area. She tried peaking out of the side doors to see if who she thought was there really was, but she couldn't get a good enough view to the other side of the gym. She sat backstage and waited for half an hour until the next play was done. She prepared mentally for the next play and before she knew it, it was time to go on. The third of the plays went off without a hitch as well. The cast was amazed at how well they were doing. But Ashleigh knew it would go well. It always did.

During the third play Ashleigh went back to the locker room to change out of her ridiculous costume. She pulled the pillows out of her shirt and shorts and stuffed them into her bag. She did her best to fix her hair that had been messed up from the wig. She resorted to letting it all the way down and adding some water and hairspray so it fell in messy waves. She wiped off her old lady wrinkles and fixed her make-up to resemble a more normal look, just a little bit amplified. She changed back into her blouse and heels, wanting to look presentable for the senior curtain call. But this time she paired them with jeans instead of the skirt. She proceeded to pack up all of her stuff and with a final check of her appearance in the mirror, she left the locker room. By this time the fourth and final play was almost finished and Ashleigh waited in the wings to do the senior curtain call. She was eager to get on stage so she could actually see the audience.

The audience applauded as the cast of the fourth play bowed and the curtain closed, only to open back up seconds later as the seniors started appearing. The applause grew with each new senior, until Ashleigh and the lead boy made their way on stage. She smiled, waved, and studied the audience intensely. She was franticly searching the area she thought she had seen Joe, but he seemed to have disappeared, if he had ever been there at all. She was slightly disappointed but scolded herself mentally for even entertaining the ridiculous notion that he would have came, alone of all things. The audience was beginning to leave the auditorium and head to the cafeteria for the reception. Ashleigh and the rest of the cast joined them and Ashleigh ran to her parents, grandparents and friends who had came to see her. She received several bouquets of flowers and for the moment had forgotten all about the possibility of Joe being there.

After all the commotion had died down and most everyone had left, Ashleigh returned to the locker room to get her things so she could meet her family for dinner to celebrate. As she struggled under the weight of her costumes and supplies, she met her family along with a few others in the hall.

"Oh my gosh, hey!" she exclaimed. Standing with her family was the entire Jonas family. Her parents and theirs were chatting and the boys were standing around. Her eyes landed on Joe and saw that he held a bouquet of pretty spring flowers in his arms. She approached the boys absolutely beaming.

"You were great," complimented Nick. The others agreed with slightly different variations and Joe took a step towards her and offered up the flowers.

"Here," he said handing them to her. "These are from everybody. You were wonderful." He smiled sincerely and Ashleigh couldn't help but return it fully.

"Thanks so much guys. I really appreciate you guys coming. I thought I saw you Joe, but it must not have been you because you were alone and then you weren't there for the senior curtain call."

"Oh, that was probably me. We all split up because we're harder to recognize that way. We didn't want to steal your guys' thunder, ya know? Then we went and sat in the car until all this died down."

"Well, that makes sense. Thanks again. This really means a lot. I'm a little embarrassed after that third play though." Ashleigh laughed nervously for emphasis.

"You were great!" said Kevin laughing heartily. "That costume was amazing. I had no idea you had such a kickin' figure."

"Real funny," Ashleigh replied while rolling her eyes and laughing.

"You kids ready?" asked Denise.

"Yeah," the boys replied in unison.

"Ok, I guess we'll follow you guys then," directed Denise to Ashleigh's parents. Gathering the clues, Ashleigh realized they must be going out to eat with them.

"Hey, do you remind if we ride with you?" asked Nick indicating himself and Joe. "We all came in one car and it's a bit crowded."

"And our parents have bad taste in music," added Joe.

"Thanks guys, leave me with the 'rents," Kevin joked sarcastically.

With that the group left and made their way to a little diner about fifteen minutes away. The car ride was pleasant. Joe had won the title of front seat, logic being that he was older and deserved it. Nick conceded very easily which gave Ashleigh ideas that she began to quickly push from her mind. The conversation was dominated by her and Joe and was very comfortable. She felt like they clicked, but figured she only felt like that because she wanted there to be something special happening.

The dinner was pleasant but uneventful. The two families meshed very well. Afterwards the kids (kids being Ashleigh, Justin, Nick, Joe and Kevin) decided they would go to Starbucks before returning home. The small car was filled to the brim but the trip was quick. They ran through the driveway and took their drinks home to enjoy. Ashleigh pulled into the Jonas's driveway. She felt a feeling of déjà vu as she pulled in, seeing as she had done it hundreds and hundreds of times. She felt a flicker of sadness and Joe thought maybe he had seen it, if only briefly, pass across her face. He liked Ashleigh and Justin a lot. It was cool to have normal friends, and when he was around them he felt almost normal. Baylor was like a whole different world from everywhere else. That's exactly why his family had chosen to move there. The parents wanted a break for themselves and their kids. They were taking the summer off and trying to lead normal lives, if only for a few short months.

"Stay and chat a bit. It's nice out," Nick suggested. He seemed eager for companionship other than his brothers. It could get lonely on tour and the boys were starved for a different kind of attention.

"Sure thing," answered Justin and everyone piled out and walked around to the deck in the back. Ashleigh had spent countless summer days lying out in the sun on this deck. She had also spent countless fall nights cuddling with whatever boy she was seeing at the moment. The group sat, laid and sprawled out in various positions and just talked. After a few minutes the group conversation dissolved into several small, intimate discussions. Ashleigh was lying on her back staring up at the blank sky, talking to Joe about future plans. It was getting late but it was obvious that no one wanted to leave. Reluctantly, Ashleigh announced that she needed to get going and stood up. Joe stood up with her.

"I'll walk you over," Joe said quietly. Ashleigh smiled her approval and they turned to leave. No one else seemed to notice as they were involved in their own conversations. They walked over in silence and stopped at Ashleigh's door.

"Thanks again for coming tonight," Ashleigh said, breaking the silence.

"No problem. I had a really good time." The mood was somber and Ashleigh yawned unexpectedly causing Joe to react. "You better get to bed. You can tell it's been a while since you've slept. You really need your beauty sleep." Joe smiled coyly, breaking the seriousness of the moment.

"Hah. Shut up," replied Ashleigh playfully pushing Joe's shoulder.

"I'll see you around."

"Goodnight." With that Ashleigh went into the house and up to her room. She closed her door and collapsed on her bed with a giant smile across her face. "I swear I am _such_ a little girl," she said allowed and laughed to herself. It was a long time before Ashleigh could actually get to sleep that night.


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's number five. Includes a little bit of drama. Read on and see. I've planned out the next few chapters so I'll try to crank some out this weekend. I also need to do some house keeping. I've found quite a few typos in the previous chapters that need fixing. I hope you like this. Puhhhlease tell me what you think. **

**REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

It was past noon by the time Ashleigh finally awoke from a very deep and restful sleep. The sun shone in her windows, making it look warmer than it really was for a day in mid-April. She rolled over and glanced at her alarm clock. She saw the time and rolled back over, closing her eyes, trying to relive every moment from the previous night. Everything had just seemed so perfect. The play went so well, the dinner afterwards was more fun than she'd had in a while and her conversation with Joe seemed to bring them closer and closer. She particularly focused on the five minutes it had taken for him to walk her to her door and say goodnight. She kept trying to repay it in her mind, thinking of different, witty things she could have said. She got along the best with Joe, rather than his brothers, but convinced herself it was only because they were closest in age.

After torturing herself for approximately half an hour, Ashleigh crawled out of bed and made her way for the shower. She let the hot water wash over her until it ran cold and reluctantly got out of the shower. She took her time getting ready, she had hours before she would have to return to the school and no plans. She wandered aimlessly around the house in one of her dad's work shirts, wasting time and trying to keep her mind occupied. She tried, cleaning, reading and working on an art project, but distraction was not found and she found herself sitting on the deck out back, staring at her old house. She was extra careful to place herself out of plain view, in case anyone from their house should see her staring.

When it was finally time to leave, Ashleigh gathered up her things and put them in her car. She grabbed a bottle of water and started her car. When her car started, the CD player automatically came on, blasting Jonas Brothers' music. Horrified, she turned the volume down and glanced around quickly to make sure none of the brothers were outside. She made a mental note to remember to turn the volume down before turning off her car next time. As she pulled out, she saw Nick playing Frisbee with Frankie and slowed down to wave. They smiled and waved back before continuing their game. Ashleigh watched them grow smaller and smaller in her rearview mirror before turning a corner and banishing them from view completely.

Once she was totally sure she was completely out of earshot, Ashleigh turned the volume back up in the middle of "When You Look Me In the Eyes." After spending some time listening to the Jonas Brothers, Ashleigh found herself completely addicted to the catchy, poppy, sound. They actually had talent and by this time Ashleigh knew the words to most of their songs. About a song and a half later, she pulled into the school parking lot and made her way to the locker room for what seemed like the hundredth time that week. She situated herself in front of the mirror and began the daunting task of putting on her make-up.

"Hey, Ashleigh."

"Hey, Mike." Mike was the male lead opposite Ashleigh in the first play. He was cute, average height with shaggy light brown hair. They were friends outside of the play as well. They always seemed to show up at the same parties and had spent many drunken weekends together.

"Coming to the big after party tonight?" Mike asked while straightening his tie.

"For sure. I've got a cheap bottle of Arbor Mist chillin' in my closet. It's been begging me to drink it for over a week now." They both laughed and continued to get ready. They made easy small talk, kidding around and laughing every now and then. Mike was one of the few boys at Baylor that Ashleigh had only been just friend with. They had an understanding, that though they flirted shamelessly, they would just be friends. None of Ashleigh's relationships ever worked out and it was no small secret. Her and Mike decided that remaining friend would be the best way to preserve their friendship.

In a few hours, the show was over, the reception complete and Ashleigh was on her way back to her house. Mike followed her home so she could drop her car off and ride with him. She carefully turned her music down before turning onto her road. She parked her car and ran inside to change. She threw on some ripped jeans, a couple tank tops and grabbed the bottle of wine out of the small cooler she had packed with ice, covered with dirty laundry and hid in her closet earlier in the day. She told her mom she was going out, would be home by curfew and ran out of the house.

Once out in the driveway, she saw Kevin and Joe getting out of a car in their own driveway. They called over to Ashleigh and they met halfway between the houses. On the way over, Ashleigh quickly pushed the wine deeper into her bag, so the boys wouldn't see it. She didn't want them to know about her weekend hobbies.

"Where are you headed?" asked Kevin in a friendly tone, just making conversation.

"Oh, me and my friend Mike are just going over to a friends house. We're going to watch some movies and just hang out," Ashleigh lied automatically. The truth would have sounded more like, 'Oh, me and my friend Mike are going to a friends house to get drunk.' "Where were you guys at?"

"We ran to the gas station. Nick was having a snack attack." Joe smiled as he answered Ashleigh.

_His smile is perfect, _thought Ashleigh. Then out loud, "Well, I better get going. I have to be home by two so if I don't leave soon I'll have to leave as soon as I get there. I'll see you guys later." She waved as she ran to the car. She hopped into the passenger seat and turned on the radio. They arrived at the party fifteen minutes later. Ashleigh hadn't been at the party more than twenty minutes before her bottle of wine was almost half way gone.

The music was loud, making conversation almost impossible. Kids filled the entire house. Ashleigh sat on Mike's lap in the basement while a beer pong game was going on just feet away. She was talking and laughing with Kayley and her boyfriend, Chris. By this time Ashleigh was pleasantly drunk and her wine was completely gone.

"Kayley, come to the bathroom with me," Ashleigh said, giggling, as she stood up off of Mike's lap. They grabbed each other's hands and headed for the stairs. Once inside the bathroom Ashleigh immediately started gushing about Joe. "He's so cute Kayley. He's just…" her voice trailed off into a fit of drunken laughter and Kayley laughed along. Her mixture of cheap vodka and orange juice put her in a giggly mood as well.

"This is an S.O.S. Don't wanna second guess," Kayley burst out in song as the two stumbled out of the bathroom, trying to hold each other up. They got back down to the basement and took their spots on their respective guys' laps. Before they knew it, it was 1:30 and time to leave. Mike gave Ashleigh a piggy back ride out to his car and buckled her in.

"You better act normal when you get in there," Mike \warned as he pulled into her driveway. "We don't need a repeat of last summer." He was referring to the time that Ashleigh had stumbled in drunk, thinking her parents were asleep and got busted for drinking. Her punishment was brief and she resumed her habits as soon as her two weeks of being grounded were over.

"Yeah, I will," she answered as she leaned across the car to hug Mike. She then reached for the handle, opened the door and tried to get out. She slammed back into the seat after realizing she hadn't taken off her seatbelt. Laughing, Mike reached over and undid the belt and Ashleigh got out of the car. She walked to the door and dug around in her bag for her keys.

"Jesus Christ," she whispered to her herself as she searched more frantically to no avail.

"Ashleigh!" Ashleigh spun around, quite started and her eyes fell upon Joe, standing in his yard. She quickly tried to compose herself and hide the fact that she was drunk.

"Hey, Joe," she answered slowly and thoughtfully. The words came out fine but to her they sounded slurred and obviously drunken.

"Something wrong?" he asked while walking towards her.

"I'm fine, just really, really tired," she lied. She remained still, afraid she would stumble and give herself away. Joe thought he smelled alcohol on her breath but didn't bring it up. "What are you doing up so late?"

"I couldn't sleep. I heard you pull in and thought I'd come say hi." As he said this, he took a step closer. Ashleigh reacted by taking a step back, not wanting him to smell the wine on her breath.

"Well, I'd love to stay and chat but, uhh…" words failed her and she mentally kicked herself for sounding like a drunken idiot. She recovered her composure and continued, "we have a matinee performance tomorrow so I have to get up early. I'll talk to you later though."

"Alright, 'night." Before Ashleigh had time to turn to leave, Joe reached forward and pulled her into a friendly hug. His motives were obvious. He could smell alcohol and cigarette smoke. He knew she was drunk, but decided against saying anything. He pulled away and smiled gently.

"Goodnight," she replied and tried her best to walk upright and steadily back to her house. As she finally found her keys and let herself in she thought to herself, _Well, that sucked. But at least I got a hug, right?_

Ashleigh laid down to sleep that night and drifted off almost immediately while thinking of how she had just completely blown any tiny, miniscule chance she had ever had with Joe. Joe, on the other hand, lay in his bed awake. He was thinking of how he thought he still may have feelings for Ashleigh, despite what he had just learned about the type of girl she might be.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Mmmk, hope you like this one. Please let me know what you think. I have an idea where this is going. The next few chapters will be goooood. I promise.** _

"Son of a bitch," were the first mumbled words to come out of Ashleigh's mouth early Sunday morning. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to escape back to sleep, where she wouldn't have to think about how she had totally blown it with Joe less than twelve hours ago. The sun shone bright in Ashleigh's windows, intensifying the pounding headache she had acquired thanks to the previous night's activities. Reluctantly, she pulled back the covers and began getting ready for her last performance. She had about two hours before she had to be at the school, which gave her enough time to shower, get ready, iron the wrinkles out of her costumes and grab some coffee. She was going to miss high school theater, but she was glad it was almost over. This routine was getting old.

All the while she was getting ready, Ashleigh's mind was occupied with thoughts of Joe. Little did she know that Joe was thinking about her too.

"Joe! What's your deal? You've been moping around all morning," Kevin observed, sounding slightly annoyed by Joe's new attitude. Joe, as every pre-teen girl in the country knew by now, was the rowdy, funny brother. Today he showed no indications of either of those characteristics. Instead he was deep in thought, sitting at the kitchen table over a glass of ice water.

"Nothing. I'm just tired," Joe replied unconvincingly.

"Yeah, I don't buy it. Nick said he heard you up at like two last night. Waiting on Ashleigh, eh?" Joe looked up looking a bit embarrassed. He hadn't counted on either of his brothers knowing he had waited up until Ashleigh said she was going to be home. He hadn't talked to them about his mixed feelings for Ashleigh, which was strange because he usually told them everything.

"I just couldn't sleep. That's all. I wasn't waiting for her."

"You like her," Kevin stated bluntly.

"What?" Joe asked, startled by Kevin's abruptness.

"You like her," Kevin repeated slowly. "Me and Nick were talking about it. You're acting just like you did with Mandy. And AJ. You like her," Kevin repeated this statement for the third time.

"I don't know," Joe said quietly, while shaking his head and suddenly finding something very interesting about his ice water.

"What do you mean, you don't know? She's pretty and nice and funny. Even mom and dad saw the way you look at her."

"Yeah, but…I don't know. I guess I was sort of waiting up for her last night. I mean, I actually felt jealous when she said she was going somewhere with that Mike kid. I know it's stupid, but I actually wanted to hit that kid. Isn't that stupid?"

"It's not stupid. You like her."

"Ok. Ok. I get it. I like her. I know I like her. I like her a lot, actually. Too much probably. I mean, I haven't even known her a whole week and she already has me feeling more jealous than Mandy or AJ ever made me feel." Joe gulped down the last of his ice water after making this last revelation. Kevin was not at all surprised, and also didn't know why Joe was making things so complicated.

"Why don't you just ask her out?" Kevin asked like it was the most obvious thing to do.

"When she came home last night," Joe began, "she was drunk."

"How do you know? She doesn't seem like that kind of girl," Kevin said, not quite convinced.

"Well, I watched her stumble out of the car, and then dig in her purse for way too long to find her keys. She was talking really slow, like she was really concentrating on what she was saying. When I was talking to her, I thought I smelled alcohol on her breath. I wasn't sure though, so when we were saying good night I hugged her and could smell it for sure. I'm positive she was drunk."

"Oh," was all Kevin could come up with to say. The boys weren't horribly judgmental. They had some friends who drank once in a while. But they'd never been in relationships with girls who drank. Their parents wouldn't like it and underage drinking wasn't something they really believed in.

"And that's probably not the extent of the things she's done," Joe continued. "She just seems like she'd experienced a lot of things, doesn't she?"

"I can see where you'd get that impression, I guess," Kevin replied between bites of cereal. "But you can't say for sure what she's like until you get to know her."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Joe conceded while getting up from the table. He put his glass in the sink and returned to his room to think.

While the boys were having this conversation Ashleigh was loading her things into her car for the last time. She made the quick journey to the school and was going through the motions for a third time. At the end of the show she shed a few tears. It was the last time she would be on stage. Ever. She was going to art school after high school, with hopes of someday becoming an illustrator. She would never have the chance to act again. She hugged Mike tightly as the curtain closed for the final time. This was his first year doing the play and the experience had only brought them closer. She pulled away and kissed him on the corner of his mouth, thanking him for everything.

She left the school and headed for home, where she'd have to change, grab some things and head back to the school to set up her things for the art show. Every senior had their own display and was in charge of setting it up. Most of the seniors had done theirs the night before with the exception of a few. Ashleigh couldn't because of the play. A few others had varying excuses of little importance. One of those few was Kara, a girl Ashleigh could not stand.

Joe happened to be looking out his window as Ashleigh pulled in. He entertained the thought of going out to talk to her, but didn't want to seem too desperate. He wasn't used to feeling this way about a girl. Rejection wasn't normally something he had to deal with. He watched her enter the house and then come out a few minutes later in sweats and a tank top. Her long wavy hair was pulled low in a side pony tail. She was struggling with what looked like large canvasses and he figured he could offer to help her without seeming too creepy. He checked himself in the mirror and hurried outside so as not to miss her.

Ashleigh spotted Joe out of the corner of her eye as she sat some paintings in her back seat and she got suddenly nervous. "Hey," she called apprehensively as he approached.

"Hey," he replied cheerfully. "Where ya going?"

Relieved that it seemed like he wasn't going to say anything about last night, Ashleigh answered, "I have to go set up for the art show. Everyone else did their stuff last night but I couldn't so I have to go do it now."

"Oh, I see." Joe was a bit let down that she was leaving again. I didn't know you were into art too. Is there anything you don't do?"

"Haha, yeah. There's plenty I don't do. But art is kind of my thing. That's what I want to go for school for after I graduate."

"Are a lot of people going to be there?" Joe asked.

"You mean right now?" Ashleigh asked confused.

"Yeah, 'cause if there's not, I can go with you to help if you want."

Ashleigh couldn't believe what she was hearing. Joe had caught her drunk and still wanted to talk to her? "It should only be me and a couple other kids maybe. And my art teacher. But that's it. You can come if you want."

"Yeah, I'd love to help. Let me run in and tell my mom. I'll be right back out." With that Joe jogged back to his house. Ashleigh tried her best to hide her excitement and started her car. As she saw Joe approaching, she quickly took out her Jonas Brothers CD and put in some random mix she had shoved up in her visor. He got in the passenger seat and put on his seat belt. She did the same and pulled out.

"It will be nice to get out of the house," Joe said in an appreciative tone.

"God, I wish I knew what that was like. Wanting to get out of the house, that is. It seems like I'm never home."

"I've noticed. You pull in and out of that driveway about ten times a day." Ashleigh looked over and raised her eyebrows. "I mean, it's not like I sit and watch your driveway or anything." He blushed. "I've just happened to notice on a couple different occasions." Joe finished his statement and punctuated it with a nervous laugh. Ashleigh joined him in laughter and smiled a bit too wide. Her attempts to hide her extreme pleasure about spending one-on-one time with Joe were failing miserably. Joe noticed and was happy that she really wanted him to be there. He had trouble reading her and was out of practice trying to court a girl, so-to-speak.

There was a bit of awkward silence and Ashleigh reached up to the stereo and adjusted the volume so that it was audible. She didn't know what was on the CD but was sure that it wasn't the Jonas Brothers and that's all she cared about. As she turned the knob clockwise a Lil' Wayne song drifted through the speakers.

"Wow. Not what I would have expected," Joe kidded with her.

"Yeah this is, umm, one of me and Kayley's car dance C D's."

"Car dance CD's?" Joe asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"Yeah, car dance CD's," Ashleigh replied like it was the most common thing in the world. "They're all songs that we can dance to and sing along to in the car."

"Care to show me one of these car dances?"

"Hell no," replied Ashleigh enthusiastically between laughter.

"Oh, come on," Joe prodded.

"No way. Never. If people saw how me and Kayley were in the car…we wouldn't have any friends."

"Never? How about a song then? Sing me something."

"Oh, Joe. Joe, Joe, Joe. You have so much to learn about me. I do not sing. The only person I ever sing in front of is Kayley. And that's only because she can't sing either." Ashleigh finished this last statement as she pulled into the school parking lot and picked a parking space close to the doors.

"Oh, Ashleigh. Ashleigh, Ashleigh, Ashleigh," mocked Joe. "It's obvious that you don't know me very well. I'll get you to sing for me. It may take some time. But it will happen."

"Whatever you say, Joe," said Ashleigh as she stepped out of the car. Minutes later, her and Joe were walking into the school with their arms full of pieces of art. They struggled into the gym and laid everything in the corner that Ashleigh had managed to point out. As they stood up from their crouched positions, A girl with choppy dirty blonde hair, who was obviously trying way too hard to be 'scene,' walked into the gym. Joe was facing a different direction, his attention elsewhere, but Ashleigh turned around in just enough time to receive a dirty look from Kara.

"I swear to God," Ashleigh mumbled, half talking to herself.

"What?" Joe asked turning around to face her.

"That girl who just walked in," Ashleigh said while indicating her with an indifferent nod of her head, "I can't stand her. She's pretty much just a bitch. Like, she goes out of her way to try to make me jealous. It never really works, it just gets annoying real quick. Oh great," Kara was approaching, "here she comes now."

Joe glanced in Kara's direction and then slipped his arms around Ashleigh's waist, pulling her close. "Just go with it," he whispered in her ear. At first Ashleigh was confused, but then she caught on. Joe was trying to make Kara jealous. Ashleigh didn't care what the reason was, it was just nice to be that close to him.

Within seconds it was obvious that it had worked. Joe smiled at Kara as she passed and Kara's face lit up with jealousy when she recognized Joe as one of the Jonas Brothers. With silent fury she walked past and Joe and Ashleigh immediately burst out into raucous laughter.

"I thought you might like that," Joe said in between little fits of more laughter.

Ashleigh replied simply with, "You are something else, Joe Jonas."

For the next two hours Joe helped Ashleigh set up her display, which looked pretty impressive when they were finished. Joe actually came in really handy, reaching all the things Ashleigh would have had to stand on a chair to do. They left the gym in a good mood, Joe had pretty much completely forgotten about the events of last night and they were the last thing on Ashleigh's mind as well. As they were pulling out of the parking lot, Ashleigh's phone rang.

"Hello? Oh, hey, Mike! What's going on?" Pause. Joe felt a flare of jealousy when he heard her say Mike and listened to the way her voice perked up when she realized who it was. "What? You're kidding, right? Seriously?" Ashleigh continued driving with one hand on the wheel and the other holding her cell phone. This made Joe a bit nervous but he forgot all about the nervousness when he saw the pained expression on Ashleigh's face. "Well, that's not your fault. I guess I can just go alone. No, it's fine really." At this point Ashleigh's voice was wavering. Joe studied her face and his concern grew. "I'm going to go though. I'll see you at school tomorrow. Mmhmm. Bye." Ashleigh hung up the phone and put both hands back on the wheel without saying anything to Joe.

"What's wrong?" he asked, wanting to know what was bringing her to the verge of tears.

"Nothing," she answered while wiping a tear from her cheek. "I'm just being stupid about this. Mike can't go to Prom with me anymore because his travel baseball team has a tournament or something that he can't miss. I'm just overreacting." Ashleigh saw the look of concern Joe was giving her. "I'm fine. Really."

"That really sucks. I'm sorry." By this time Ashleigh was pulling into her driveway. They both got out of the car and stood next to each other preparing to say their usual goodbyes. "Well, maybe…" Joe began but trailed off. Ashleigh's hopes suddenly soared sky high, thinking maybe Joe was going to offer to go with her to Prom. They crashed to the ground as he continued, "Maybe I'll see you tomorrow I guess."

They hugged awkwardly and parted. Ashleigh ran up to her room and slammed the door. Flopping down on her pillow she silently kicked herself for even thinking Joe would suggest that.

_I am an idiot_, she thought to herself before covering her head with her pillow.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ok, this is a shorter one, but I don't have time to write more and don't know how soon I could finish it so I figured I'd update what I have. I already have like 3 more ideas for other stories haha. But don't worry, I'll finish this one first. **

**Well maybe, if I get more reviews! **

**There's some major drama coming up. So the more reviews you guys give me, the quicker we get to the gooooood stuff.**

**Thanks to everyone who's reading and reviewing. You guys are great!**

"Your stuff looks so much better than Kara's. I swear to God, if that bitch photoshops one more picture of herself and calls it art- I'll puke." The disgust in Kayley's voice only raised Ashleigh's spirits more. Kara had never done anything to Kayley directly, but Kayley hated her by association.

The turn out to the art show was better than expected. Ashleigh received many compliments on her work, and for the moment, it kept her mind off of her prom problem. For the entire four hours Ashleigh was required to be there, she kept sneaking glances towards the entrance, half expecting to see Joe or his family walk through. She knew it was wishful thinking. Word wasn't completely out that the famous family had taken up residence in Baylor. Even when the news would "hit the stands," so-to-speak, the buzz would surely die down in less than a week. There weren't very many people in Baylor. Besides, the majority of the population were AARP members; not exactly budding Disney Channel fans.

"You have such a way with words, Kayley. If the nursing school thing doesn't work out for you, at least you have poetry as a fall back."

Kayley rolled her eyes and changed the subject. "So, when am I going to get to meet these famous Disney Channel boys, anyway? I want to meet them before they all hit puberty. You know how I like 'em, Ash." She punctuated this statement by wiggling her eyebrows up and down suggestively.

" Eww. You are so gross, you pedophile," said Ashleigh laughing. "And I'm pretty sure they've already hit puberty. At least two of them, I think. Well, maybe only one of them shaves. But I think Kara has more facial hair than the younger two." Both girls laughed pretty loud at themselves. They weren't really mean girls, just witty. At least, they thought they were, anyway.

"Speaking of," Kayley trailed off, nodding her head in the direction of the approaching enemy.

"Hey, tell me I was dreaming yesterday. That wasn't really Joe Jonas, was it?" Kara was only nice when it was convenient for her. This was one of those times.

"You were dreaming," answered Ashleigh civilly. They were in public, after all.

"Yeah, I think you've been watching a little too much Disney Channel, Kara," added Kayley with a semi-nice, semi-not, chuckle.

"Whatever you say, Kayley. I have to get back to my display. People like to ask me questions." With that Kara turned and headed back towards her display.

"Yeah, like 'what the hell is this shit?'" Kayley's remark caused another wave of laughter to pass over the girls. "Anyway, you read for pre-prom '08?" Big smiles spread across both the girls' faces. Pre-prom was a Baylor High tradition. The week before prom, someone or a few people always threw a big party. This year Ashleigh's house was going to be the main event. Her parent's had tickets to a Bruce Springsteen show a couple hours away and were spending the weekend out of town. With the house to herself, in a pretty secluded area, it made perfect sense.

"Are you kidding? I've been preparing for weeks. And stocking up. We're going to have enough booze to party for a week straight."

"That's what I like to hear," Kayley stated, sounding satisfied and content.

Throughout the course of the night, lots of Ashleigh's friends showed up, including Mike. He was overly apologetic, genuinely sorry that he couldn't take Ashleigh to prom.

Meanwhile, there was a similar prom conversation going on at the Jonas household.

"I don't know, Joe. I don't think mom and dad will go for that." Though Nick was the youngest, he was always the voice of reason.

"Come on, it's not like there's going to be a thousand screaming fans there. There's like twenty kids at the whole high school," Joe reasoned.

"Hey, it's not me you have to convince. I'm just telling you what I think they'll say," Nick defended himself from his sprawled out position on his bed. Joe was straddling

Nick's desk chair, resting his chin on his crossed arms.

"I know. I just feel really bad that her date fell through."

"You want to go to prom, don't you?" Nick asked with a smirk.

"What do you mean?"

"You're such a girl, Joe. You want to go to prom. Maybe if you ask our fairy godmother, she'll turn a pumpkin into a carriage for you and everything." Nick laughed at his own joke. Although he tried to hide it, Joe thought it was funny too.

"Well, maybe. I think it would be fun. I mean, I never thought I'd have the opportunity to go, and now I do." Nick answered only with an indifferent shrug of his shoulders. "Who says she'll even want to go with me," Joe continued more to himself than to Nick. "I don't quite know how she feels about me. She's hard to read. Listen to me. I'm being such a girl about this."

"Look," Nick began, "why don't you go write in your diary about it and then talk to mom and dad."

"Shut up," were Joe's parting words as he left his little brother's room to find his parents. He walked downstairs to the master bedroom, while rehearsing in his mind how he should go about asking his parents. Yes, he was eighteen and an adult and capable of making his own decisions, but even the littlest decisions could affect his entire family.

"It's open," called his mom after he knocked on the door.

"What's going on?" asked Joes dad, looking up from his newspaper. It was weird for Joe to see his parents relaxing. Something he hadn't seen them do for about three straight years now.

"I was just thinking. You know how you guys are always saying you want us to lead as close to normal lives as we can?"

"Nope. I do not recall saying that," Joe's dad joked, obviously aware that Joe was getting at something.

"Well," Joe continued, ignoring his dad's attempted joke, "suppose one of your sons wanted to attend a normal kid event. For the sake of this conversation, we'll call that event 'prom.'" Joe put air quotes around the last word.

"What are you talking about, Joe?" his mom asked, cutting right to the chase.

"Ashleigh's date ditched her. She was pretty upset about it. I thought maybe I could go with her, so she's not the only one going by herself. I would be careful. I already thought it out. Big Rob could go to keep an eye on things." Joe's eyes pleaded silently with his parents as they took it all in.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea." his dad looked at his wife for back up.

"I think you're dad's right, hon."

"Please? There are only going to be like a hundred people there. It's not that big of a deal."

"Let us talk it over," compromised his mom, hating to disappoint her son. "Just don't get your hopes up."

Joe left and waited anxiously, suppressing the urge to barge in his parents' room and demand an answer. He tried passing the time with the TV in the living room but nothing could distract him. Finally after about an hour his parents came out. Eagerly, Joe turned around from his position on the couch.

"We're not saying yes yet, but let us call and talk to the principal. If everything checks out, then we don't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to go." Joe's mom finished basically giving Joe permission and he jumped over the couch to hug her and his dad.

Ashleigh pulled in her driveway exhausted. It had been so long since she just had a day where she didn't have to do anything at all. She wanted to crawl in her bed, forget about prom and just sleep for a week. She got ready for bed and by eleven o'clock was lying under her covers, staring up at the ceiling.

In the neighboring house, Joe was awake too. Thinking of how he should ask her. He had butterflies in his stomach for the first time in a long time. He was excited and nervous at the same time. Rejection wasn't outside the realm of possibility. She might think he was being too forward or cocky. He began analyzing every conversation they had ever had, looking for hints of clues she might have dropped, trying to figure out how she felt about him.

Eventually they both fell asleep, thinking about each other.


	8. Chapter 8

**Well , here goes. Chapter Eight. Thanks to those of you who are reviewing. It really means a lot to know there are some people enjoying this. Tell me what you guys think of this one. This chapter's a little different. The next one is BIGGG. So review, review, review! So we can get to the next one faster. Love you guys! ENJOY!**

Joe stepped out of the shower grabbing one towel to dry off and one for his famous hair. It was a real hassle to tame the mass of curls, but he had an image to upkeep. He smiled to himself, thinking about the note his mom had left on the door of his bedroom. It was about noon when he rolled out of bed. He slept in later than usual due to the fact that he stayed up half way through the night nervously thinking about Ashleigh and how to ask her to prom. When he was making his way to the bathroom he saw the note that read, "Sweetheart, if you ever decide to get out of bed, you can go to prom. I wish I could be here to see your face, but we're running low on groceries and if we had to wait for you to wake up, we would all starve to death. Love, Mom."

Shaking him self out of his day dream, he tied his towel around his waist and ventured out of his bathroom and into what used to be Ashleigh's old bedroom. Joe walked towards the closet and quickly dismissed the four or five shirt that's were actually hung up. Instead he knelt down and dug around inside a few assorted boxes and clothes baskets, coming up with jeans and a t-shirt. After pulling on his underwear and an undershirt he dressed himself in his selected fashions. He turned toward the full length mirror and assessed his outfit.

_Too casual_, he thought. _I should at least look like I'm making an effort._

Joe replaced the light wash jeans with a darker grey pair, a short sleeve dress shirt, and vest. Once again in front of the mirror, _Now I look like I'm trying too hard. _Frustrated, Joe stripped and knelt down in front of the now messy piles of clothes. He didn't know why he was making everything so hard. He'd never put this much thought into getting dressed before.

For the third time, Joe was standing in front of the mirror. This time, he was sporting the original pair of light wash jeans, a white undershirt and a plain white, long sleeve dress shirt. _Better_, he thought, and went about the task of doing his hair. By this time it was almost completely dry and required minimal blow drying. He straightened it partially, leaving it a bit wavy and curly at the ends. An hour after stepping out of the shower, he was finally ready.

Glancing at the clock, Joe let out an exasperated sigh, realizing he still had an hour or so until Ashleigh would get home from school.

"Ashleigh! You _have_ to go," Kayley tried her best to plead with her best friend.

"Ugh, I know. But I'm going to be the only person there without a date. And I'll be the third wheel with you and Chris." Ashleigh had been talking herself out of going to prom all day. As she drove towards Kayley's house, taking her home from school, there was an unusual absence of loud music and crazy dancing.

"We don't care. We'll still make it fun. Besides, you already have a dress!"

"I don't know. I'll think about it. I'll text you later," Ashleigh said while shifting her car into park while Kayley grabbed her books from the back seat and got out.

"Alright, you better. I'll talk to you later." With that Kayley was inside her house and Ashleigh was on the road back home, driving slow, trying to extend the five minute trip. Inevitably, she pulled in her empty driveway, left alone to brood in her negative thoughts.

Fishing in her purse for her keys, she saw her cell phone light up, still on silent from being at school. Pulling it out of her zippered pocket she read, _**1 New Message From: Joe Jonas**__. _Her heart leapt completely out of her chest. After hitting the read button his message popped up on her screen. _**Meet me at the pond? **_Immediately, thoughts were racing. _What could he want? Is he by himself? I'm not dressed up enough. _Quickly, she texted back, _**Give me five minutes? **_By the time she got Joe's reply, she was already pulling her sweatshirt over her head. Flipping it open, she read, _**I'll be waiting**__, _and threw the phone down and started looking around her room for a more flattering outfit.

She pulled a coral colored casual dress and pulled it over her head. Then she pulled off her jeans, hurriedly rubbed some lotion on her legs decided against flip-flops. Ashleigh preferred bare feet to shoes and wanted to make sure she didn't look like she was trying too hard. She flipped her head upside down and shook out her hair, tousling it with her fingers. With a few sprays each of hairspray and perfume, she was out the door.

As Ashleigh made her way down to the pond, trying to look nonchalant, her stomach was doing cartwheels. She saw Joe sitting on the picnic table that sat next to the water, with his feet on the bench and his elbows on his knees. She took notice of his outfit and wondered how he always managed to look perfectly and effortlessly put together. It was breezy and sunny and as Joe heard Ashleigh approaching he turned his head and squinted in her direction. His face lit up in a smile and Ashleigh felt herself smiling back.

_God, he is gorgeous, _she thought as she closed the remaining five foot gap and perched on the table next to Joe.

"What's going on?" Ashleigh asked, trying to sound casual and friendly.

"Ahh, not too much. The rest of the family is out shopping and I think seeing a movie and I was left at the house by myself." Joe said this answer while avoiding eye contact staring out across the water.

"Oh…I see." Ashleigh wasn't quite sure what to say. She was confused as to why Joe had asked to meet her. Pulling her wind-blown hair out of her lip gloss, she tried to pick up the conversation. "So, uhh…" It was a failed attempt that resulted in nervous laughter from both parties.

Joe finally tore his gaze away from the pond and turned to look at Ashleigh. He took a minutes to take in her face. Her dark brown eyes were almost mirror images of his own. She wasn't an extraordinary beauty, but she was really pretty and he was drawn to her unlike any other girl he had ever met. He wasn't sure if it was because she was the first girl he as actually had an opportunity to really get to know or not, but he liked the feeling regardless. Right as Joe was about to deliver the speech he had been going over in his head all afternoon, he blanked out. Deciding to shoot from the hip, he finally broke the silence.

"I like being here." Ashleigh gave him a questioning look, encouraging him to continue. "I mean, I'm happy. I'm, I'm not making sense." They both laughed because it was obvious that they were equally nervous. "You make me nervous," Joe blurted out.

"Oh, thank God, 'cause you make me nervous too," Ashleigh replied with obvious relief. They both laughed and the situation became instantly more comfortable.

"Ya know, I like you."

"I like you, too," Ashleigh replied, thinking he just meant as a friend.

"Well, I mean, I think I _really_ like you. Like, I don't want you to think I'm creepy," Joe's speech became quick and nervous. "And I know we've only known each other for like a week and everything. And it's really hard to explain. But you're really cool and I like being around you."

Ashleigh watched as his face turned red while explaining his feelings. She was totally taken aback as this small outburst was totally unexpected. "I like being around you too," she assured him.

"Well, good. Maybe we can be around each other more often then?"

"I'd really like that." The wind swirled Ashleigh's hair around her face, getting more hair stuck in her lip gloss. Joe reached forward and gently brushed the hair back from her face and the shiny gloss.

"And maybe," Joe continued, "we can be around each other at your prom?" He watched as Ashleigh's eyes lit up and a smile spread across her face.

"You would do that?" she asked, genuinely touched by the kindness of his offer.

"You say it like I'm doing you a favor. I would be so lucky to get to go to a prom with you."

"You are something else, Joe."

"So is that a yes?"

"Oh, God, yes. Of course." Ashleigh couldn't believe what was going on.

"Good. I'm glad that's over. You have no idea how incredibly nervous I was that you'd turn me down." He fought the wind with a toss of his hair and fidgeted nervously with his hands. Ashleigh absentmindedly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and stared out across the water. There was an awkward silence until Ashleigh asked a question she'd wanted to since the day she met the boys.

"So, what are you doing here?" It came out a little harsher than she intended.

"What?"

"I mean, what brings you to Baylor? Why aren't you touring or something?"

"The last tour was really crazy. Our entire family was really run down. Especially Nick. It was taking a lot out of him with diabetes and everything. Me and Kevin are finished with school, but Nick and Frankie aren't. My parents thought it would be best to take a break. Give everyone a chance to recuperate. We hated the idea at first. But since we've been here, we're really enjoying the time off." Ashleigh nodded, not really knowing what else to say. So Joe just continued. "As for why we ended up in Baylor, my mom's parents live about fifteen minutes away from here. Mom and dad knew the town was small, and figured it would be a good place for a hiatus. Falling into your house was just pure luck."

"Well, I'm glad you came," was all Ashleigh could think to say.

"Me too." After a brief pause, "Are you going to show me your dress?"

"What? No! you can't see it until the day of the dance."

Joe laughed at her adamancy. "What? Why?"

"Because! You just can't."

"Then how do I know how to match you?" Joe pouted.

"I'll show your mom and she can help you pick. Or Kevin or something."

"Ok, ok. I guess that will work."

The pair sat on the picnic table or much of the next hour, making small talk, laughing and having just an over all good time. When it was time for Ashleigh to leave for the second night of the Art Show, Joe walked her to her house. About halfway there, their hands bumped awkwardly and neither were sure what to do. Ashleigh decided she definitely wasn't going to be making any first moves and was relieved when Joe grabbed her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. When they got to Ashleigh's door they hesitated before Joe made light of the situation by jokingly shaking her hand and they laughed as they parted.

Ashleigh rushed upstairs, closed her bedroom door and proceeded to call Kayley to let her know she would be going to prom and it wouldn't be alone.


	9. Chapter 9

_**WOWWWW. Sorry it's been so long. I was super busy with school and stuff then I got sickkkk. But here's chapter 9?? I think it is. The next one is drama filllllled. I'll try to get it to you this weekend. Review review review! Unless you hate me for not updating haha. Let me know what you think.**_

"What?!" Kayley's voice was loud and surprised. "He asked you to prom?!"

"I know. Crazy, right? I feel like I'm the star of a Disney Channel movie or something. This stuff doesn't happen in Baylor! This stuff doesn't happen to me." Ashleigh's excitement exceeded all previous levels. She was almost sure she had never been more excited about anything. Ever. But ever the realist (and sometimes pessimist) Ashleigh couldn't help but think how much worse it was going to suck when things didn't work out. She was Ashleigh after all, nothing ever worked out.

"You are the luckiest girl in the world, Ashleigh."

"You haven't even heard the best part. He said he liked me!"

Kayley shrieked. "He said he liked you?!"

"He said he liked me! I mean, at least I think so. I don't want to get my hopes up but I can't help it. I think I really like him, like more than I've ever liked anyone. I mean, I know that's not saying much seeing as my longest relationship was like 2 months or whatever. But still. I just, I'm not sure if it's because he's famous." Ashleigh sighed, frustrated with all of the confusing emotions going on inside of her.

"Well coming from your best friend, you've never been one to exaggerate feelings for a guy. I'm pretty sure that when I asked you if you really liked Ben (the boy from her longest relationship) you answered with, 'Well, I don't hate him. He doesn't get on my nerves that much.'" Kayley always knew exactly what to say.

"Yeah, I know, but. What if it ends up just like the other ones? What if I like him at first until he likes me back and then get scared and end it?"

"Then you get over it and move on. But does it really feel like that to you?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Then give him a chance. You never give anyone a chance." Kayley was referring to Ashleigh's two week deadline. Boys rarely made it past two weeks. If Ashleigh thought she was falling for someone, she immediately cut them off so she wouldn't get hurt.

"That's not true."

"Yes it is and you know it is. Let's make a deal on this one."

"What?" Ashleigh asked, genuinely interested. Kayley's deals were always interesting.

"The first time you get that feeling, that you want to quit. That you think you don't like him. The first time you find something ridiculous to use as an excuse…call me. You give me twenty bucks, I slap some sense into you and you give it a week." Both the girls laughed at this proposal.

"Deal, except no twenty bucks, and I slap you."

"Well, we'll work out the fine details later. But you get the gist. Deal?"

"Fine," Ashleigh conceded. "But when this all goes to shit, you buy the ice cream that I'll drown my sorrows in for a month."

"You're such an optimist. Are you going to invite the boys to Pre-prom?"

"Uhh hell no. Are you kidding?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. How do you plan on hiding it from Joe?"

"I don't know," Ashleigh answered absent-mindedly, the wheels already turning.

"Well, you work on that. In the mean time, Chris is calling. I'll tell him the good news. See you at school tomorrow and say hi to Kara for me at the art show."

"So, how'd it go? Will I be watching my bouncing baby brother go to his first prom?" Kevin kidded with his kid brother. He didn't really need to ask, Joe's huge smile was giving him away.

"She said yes," Joe said simply, still smiling.

"Oh, goodie. But how on earth are you going to find a dress in time for the ball?" Nick joked as he entered the kitchen. The boys didn't normally pick on Joe this much, but Joe was usually the ladies' man and they were taking advantage of his rare vulnerability.

"Shut up, Nick," retorted Joe lovingly.

"Quite frankly, I'm surprised she didn't turn you down," Nick continued the assault on Joe until Joe, half-playing, punched him in the arm.

"Did you tell her you like her or just ask her as friends?" Kevin asked, finally serious.

"I guess, sort of both. I did tell her I liked her, and she said she liked me too, I think. But I don't know if she thinks prom is like a date date or not."

"Do you _want_ it to be a date date?" Nick asked.

"I do, but I don't know if she does or not. I mean, I told her I liked her but I didn't ask her to be my girlfriend or anything."

"Do you _want_ her to be your girlfriend?" Asked Kevin, copying Nick's tone.

"I don't know. Like I do, but isn't this moving way too fast? I like her enough for her to be my girlfriend, but I don't think she likes me that much and I don't want to freak her out or anything."

"Well don't ask her yet. But just hint at it." Kevin was offering his little brother advice, something he didn't get the chance to do that often.

"Well, Casanova, how'd it go?" It was the boys' dad, accompanied by their mom, entering the kitchen.

Despite being annoyed, Joe smiled and answered, "She said yes, but she won't let me see her dress. So mom, you'll have to help me pick out a tux. She said she would let you see it."

The prom conversation continued on at the Jonas household while Ashleigh attended the last night of the art show. The rest of the week went by slowly. Joe and Ashleigh didn't talk much, neither of them wanted to come off as desperate or eager. A few text messages here and there were enough to set up a meeting between Denise, Ashleigh and her mom.

"You know, Joe is really excited about taking your daughter to this dance," Denise remarked kindly to Ashleigh's mother, Marie, while Ashleigh was putting on her dress.

"Oh that's good. I know Ashleigh's really excited too. She was so upset when her first date couldn't take her, she was thinking about not going at all. I'd hate for her to miss her senior prom."

"I know the feeling," began Denise. "I mean, don't get me wrong. We are so blessed to be leading the life we are, but I sometimes wish the boys could have grown up more normally. It might be silly, but I may be more excited than Joe is. I never thought I'd get to see one of my boys go to prom."

Just as Denise finished, Ashleigh walked into the living room.

"Oh, that's just beautiful!" Denise exclaimed.

Ashleigh's dress was her dream dress. The light pink color was beautiful against her tanned skin. The halter top came to a sexy but not trashy point in the front and crossed once at the top of her back. This left the rest of her back exposed down to her lower back where the fabric was draped, resting on the top of her tailbone. It was fitted through the bodice and filled out with a slight poof that continued down to the floor.

Ashleigh smiled and did a turn with a flourish, just goofing around, while the light in the room bounced off the perfectly placed, shimmering sequins.

"Thanks," she said sincerely while Denise got up to get a closer look at the dress.

"Well, I'm thinking a plain black tux with a light pink vest and tie. I know for sure Joe has a tux, but we might have to go get the vest."

"That sounds fine to me. I'm just thankful he's going. He's really amazing for doing this for me."

"Oh, honey, he's more excited than you are."

Ashleigh celebrated internally at this statement but replied only with an appreciative smile. After all the details were hammered out Denise left and Ashleigh changed out of her dress. It was Friday and Ashleigh had some last minute planning to do for Pre-prom. While she was texting some names to Kayley, her mom and dad were packing their things for their weekend getaway. The rest of the night and the following morning dragged on slowly until Kayley's arrival around 2 PM on Saturday.

Both Ashleigh and Kayley were in sweats without make-up, waiting until just before the party to get ready. They began setting things up for the party. They put away anything expensive and fragile just incase. They filled the fridge with the miscellaneous cans and bottles of alcohol so they'd be cold when people got there. Coolers lined the kitchen, waiting to be filled by the alcohol people would bring. The doors to all the rooms that were off limits were locked and extra blankets and pillows were piled in a corner for people to use when they were ready to pass out.

At 6, about two hours before people would start to arrive, Ashleigh and Kayley started to get ready. These parties were glamorous and high profile for Baylor's standards, so the girls really dressed it up. Kayley put on a hot pink micro mini dress with sparkly white strappy flat sandals that laced up her ankles. Ashleigh, after careful consideration, put on a pair of dressy white short shorts, attire she reserved for when her parents were out of town. She pulled on a black strapless corset top that was shiny in some places that made her look bustier that she really was. She topped it off with sky high 4 ½ inch black heels, and a black ribbon choker.

"Hair?" Kayley asked and Ashleigh immediately went to work on her best friend's hair. As far as appearances went, Ashleigh and Kayley were polar opposites. Kayley had platinum blonde hair that she usually wore down, pin straight. Going for something different, Ashleigh curled her best friends hair and pulled it up in a high messy ponytail, teasing up the front so it resembled something Gwen Stefani would do with her hair. "What about yours?"

"Work your magic," Ashleigh replied, trusting Kayley's judgment. Kayley heated up a curling iron and began wrapping large sections around the barrel, letting them fall in loose curls. While she was curling Ashleigh's phone lit up and vibrated. Ashleigh reached for it, being careful not to burn herself and flipped it open. It was a text from Joe. **Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to come over and hang out for a little bit tonight. **Ashleigh groaned, wishing she could and not wanting to tell him she couldn't.

"Just tell him you have plans," Kayley suggested. She had read the text over Ashleigh's shoulder while continuing to curl her hair.

**I'm sort of busy tonight**, Ashleigh started typing in. **I'd really like to but I already have plans around 8**. Send. "How was that?" she asked Kayley for her approval.

"Sounded vague and ambiguous enough to me."

Ashleigh's phone vibrated again. **OK, well maybe I could see you for a few minutes before you leave? I haven't seen you all week.**

"Tell him no. That way you won't have to explain anything to him. Like why you look like a two dollar hooker."

"Shut up!" Ashleigh answered jokingly. "You don't have much room to talk. Your dress is so short you could look up your name and address. I want to see him."

"Go ahead then." With Kayley's approval Ashleigh sent back, **Kayley's over here so meet me at the pond around 7:30.**

Kayley finished curling her hair and sprayed about half a can of hairspray into Ashleigh's hair so it would have huge volume. "Turn your head upside down and shake." Ashleigh did what she was told and Kayley sprayed more hairspray. When she flipped her head back over and looked in the mirror, it was perfect.

"Kayley, you are a magician."

"No problem, but you better do your make up. It's ten after already."

Ashleigh gathered her make up and went to use the mirror in the bathroom. She put on dark black eye shadow and eye liner, going for the smokey eye look. She put on bronzer and shiny light pink lip gloss. After a few coats of mascara, she was ready to go.

"I'm going to head on down there. If people start getting here, go ahead and turn on the music."

"It's only twenty after."

"I know, but I want to be the one waiting on him this time. And in these heels it's going to take me extra long to get down there."

Ashleigh made her way down to the pond and perched again on the picnic table where Joe had asked her to prom just days earlier. She was staring out across the pond, in a world of her own when she was roused by a hand on her bare shoulder.

"Oh, hey," Ashleigh began, startled.

"Hey. Wow." Joe said as he noticed what Ashleigh was wearing. "What's the occasion?" he asked, struggling to move his eyes from her amplified chest.

Ashleigh was uncomfortable and nervous and stupidly blurted out, "This top makes them look bigger than they really are."

"Uhh…" Joe wasn't sure how to reply. Ashleigh smiled nervously and tried to correct herself.

"Our big Pre-prom party is tonight. Everyone gets real dressed up. It's Baylor tradition. I normally don't dress like this."

"Well, you look great." Joe meant what he said. She looked more than great. She looked _incredible._ He was instantly sexually attracted to her. He wanted to kiss her and touch her. He was caught off guard by these feelings because he hadn't really had them towards a tangible girl. Of course he'd lusted for air brushed magazine beauties, but never for a girl he could touch in the flesh. He fought back these feelings, feelings he'd been taught were wrong until marriage, and tried to focus on the moment. He sat down next to her and continued talking. "Where's the big party at?"

"It's actually at my house."

"Aren't your parents out of town?"

"Yeah, but they know I'm having people over. And it's not like there's going to be drinking or anything," Ashleigh lied right to Joe's face. He suspected it but didn't say anything. She felt bad about lying, but what else was she supposed to do. Ashleigh played nervously with her hair, just wanted something to do with her hands. She kept sneaking sideways glances at Joe. She couldn't get over how good looking he was. She wanted so bad just to lean over and kiss him, but didn't.

Joe noticed her fidgeting and grabbed her hand and held it in between both of his. She turned her head to look at him and they locked eyes. Just when she thought he might make a move he said, "It's almost eight. I'll walk you back up to your house. Don't want you to be late for your own party."

Ashleigh could hear the disappointment in his voice. She suspected that he knew the real purpose of the party. He held her hand as they walked up to her house. Eventually he had to put his arm around her waist to keep her from falling as her heels sank into the ground with each step. When they got to her door, she threw her arms around his neck, trying to silently apologize for lying and for everything she would do tonight. He hugged her tightly back, with his conflicting emotions raging inside of him. She pulled back, whispered goodbye and went into the house. Just as Joe was making his way up the stairs to his own bedroom, the first of what would be many cars pulled into Ashleigh's driveway. On cue, the music started and Joe tried to keep his mind off of what was going on next door.


	10. Chapter 10

**Two updates in one night? What?? Haha. I'm trying to make up for my super long hiatus. I want like at least like 5 reviews on this chapter. Is that too much to ask? I hope not. LOOOVE you guys!**

People started pouring into the house and before she knew it, Ashleigh's entire house was filled with people. If Joe thought Ashleigh's outfit was over the top, he would have changed his mind when seeing some of the other girls' outfits. Jackie, Ashleigh's friend from the play had on a tiny jean mini skirt with a top that was backless and pretty much see through in the front. Other girls had matching ensembles of mini dresses and knee-high boots. It would have been safe to say that at least half of the girls wore fishnets and/or push-up bras. The guys had tried their best to look good, as well. Most were dressed to impress in their ripped jeans and button downs. A couple of especially rowdy boys from school came shirtless and already tipsy.

Everyone was talking and having a good time, still on their first drinks so it wasn't getting too crazy. Ashleigh walked around and mingled with her guests, sipping on her signature bottle of wine. As she moved throughout the house she was offered shots of jack and tequila, which she gladly took. In an hour everyone was buzzing pleasantly, having a really good time.

Kayley and Ashleigh made their way into the living room where all the furniture had been cleared to make a dance floor. Kayley put in a dance CD she had made special for the occasion and announced that it was time to dance. Lil' Wayne's "Lollipop" came out loudly through the speakers followed by appreciative whoops and yells. Ashleigh took Kayley's hand and led her to the middle of the room where they started dancing and encouraging everyone else to come dance. Before the first verse was over the living room was filled with people bumping and grinding and shouting the lyrics, profanity and all.

Ashleigh danced mostly with Kayley, but occasionally with others as well. She continued sipping on her bottle throughout and it was gone by ten o'clock. Meanwhile, Joe was at home, torturing himself with thoughts of the party next door.

"Maybe I should just drop in."

"Joe, you can't do that," reasoned Nick. "You weren't invited for a reason. All you need is for someone to take a picture of you on their camera phone with a beer in the background and in nanoseconds it will be spread all over the internet."

"I know, but it's killing me. I just want to know what's going on over there. I could just peak in a window and leave. Nobody would know."

"That's a stupid idea and you know it," said Nick bluntly.

"Whatever," Joe replied bitterly and left Nick's room and headed in the direction of Kevin's.

"Kevin, go over there with me." Joe entered Kevin's room without knocking. Kevin didn't mind. He was laying, propped up in his bed, lazily flipping through the channels on the TV.

"What?" he asked, not even bothering to look up from the TV.

"I want to go over to Ashleigh's and look in the window. I just want to see what's going on. Come with me."

"I don't know, man," Kevin answered slowly. He muted the TV and sat up. "That doesn't sound like such a great idea."

"Come on, I'd do it for you. It's not like we can get in trouble or anything. It will only take a minute." Joe pleaded with his brother. He really hoped he wouldn't have to resort to waking Frankie.

"Fine," Kevin conceded, shaking his head, as he got up off of his bed. The pair walked down stairs quietly and went out the back door, trying not to wake their sleeping parents. As they approached Ashleigh's house they could hear the music coming from her living room.

"We'll just look in through the deck doors and leave," instructed Joe as they walked through her backdoor and up onto the deck. The curtains were drawn on the large French doors, but they were separated enough to allow Joe and Kevin space to see in without being easily visible from the inside.

Joe stepped up to the door and looked in. He watched as Ashleigh accepted a drink out of someone's red plastic cup while dancing pretty heavily on Mike. The song blaring on the stereo was "Low" by Flo Rida and Joe couldn't help but be captivated by the way Ashleigh moved her hips. Every time the line 'Shawty got low, low, low, low' came on Ashleigh and the rest of the girls danced down to the floor. Joe didn't want to see Ashleigh drunk and dancing on other guys but he couldn't help but be attracted to her in that moment. He felt wrong for feeling that way, almost dirty but he still couldn't help it. He had never felt so confused about anything in his entire life.

"Well, what's going on?" Kevin asked from his spot behind Joe.

"Nothing good, that's for sure," answered Joe. He moved aside reluctantly, not wanting Kevin to see the girl his brother liked dancing pretty much like a slut.

"Wow," was all Kevin managed as he peered into the window. "Holy shit, what is that?" Joe pushed his brother aside in time to see Ashleigh posed provocatively on her knees holding what looked to be the end of a long clear hose attached to a funnel. People circled around her, cheering her on, as some guy Joe didn't know emptied the contents of two beer cans into the funnel, filling up the hose. His heart sank as he watched her put her mouth to the end of the hose and chug down the beer in a matter of seconds. The people around her cheered as she got up from her knees, smiling and laughing and noticeably wobbly.

"Let's go," said Joe roughly as he tore himself away from the door.

"Dude, I'm sorry, bro. That really sucks." Kevin patted his brother on the back as they walked back to their own house.

"Ahhh, I'm so confused," said Joe with an exasperated sigh. He flopped himself down on the couch and Kevin perched on a neighboring chair.

"What do you mean?"

"I still like her. I still like her a lot. But I shouldn't. I shouldn't like a girl like that. Let the paparazzi get a hold of that one. If I would have seen any other girl but her doing that I wouldn't think twice about it."

"Look, she's a nice girl, but that was pretty rough. Maybe you could help her quit or something. I don't know." Kevin tried to cheer up his little brother, to look on the bright side, but it was hard after what they had just witnessed. "Maybe it was the first time she drank."

"Yeah right. She chugged those two beers in like less than a minute. I think she's been doing it for quite a while."

"I don't know man, but it's late. I'm tired. I'll see you in the morning." Kevin wasn't really that tired but he didn't know what to tell Joe and figured it was probably best that he figure it out on his own. Joe laid on the couch for almost two hours, thinking about everything and nothing at all. Frustrated, he got up and went to his room. He grabbed a pen and notebook and began sloppily writing things down. Random thoughts, lyrics and song ideas flowed from his pen. Around 2 in the morning he heard the music stop playing. After scrawling a few more lines he went down stairs and looked across the yard to see that most of the lights in the neighboring house were turned off.

He had an idea.

Ashleigh was stumbling through her house, checking on people and trying to pick up empty cans and bottles. She was more drunk than she had planned on getting and was trying her hardest to stay upright and conscious until she was sure everyone was OK. Her phone vibrated in her back pocket startling her. She pulled it out and read, **Hey, you still up? I can't sleep**. It was Joe. She fumbled around and managed to text back, **yyeah. y? **It was super unlike her to use abbreviations and no punctuation but it was all she could handle at this point. Almost immediately Joe replied, **Mind if I come over to see you for a little bit? **Ashleigh freaked out. Everyone was passed out all over the house, she was a mess. She hurriedly texted back, **idk. U nede som9thing?**

Ashleigh sat on her steps and waited for a reply. Nothing. She put her head in her hands and she fought to stay conscious. She wanted so bad to pass out in her bed, but wanted to hear back from Joe. After five minutes there was still no reply but a knock on the deck door startled her. She did her best to step over the bodies of a bunch of passed out teenagers as she clumsily made her way to the door. She unlocked and opened the door, expecting the worst.

Joe stood there for a minute without saying anything. He studied her face. Despite her messy hair and smeared eye make-up she still looked beautiful to him. She looked at him guiltily and started to sway. He reached out quickly and put his arms around her waist to steady her.

He looked around at all the sleeping people and asked, " Is there some where we can be alone to talk?"

"Upstairs," Ashleigh answered, trying to keep her sentences short and to the point. He put his arm around her waist to help her navigate across the living room. When they got to the stairs Ashleigh sighed, knowing she wasn't going to be able to make it up them gracefully. On the second step her knees gave out. She fell to her knees on the carpeted steps and Joe reached down, without saying a word, and practically carried her the rest of the way to her room where he sat her on the bed and then sat beside her. She hid her face in her hands, drunk and embarrassed.

"I thought there wasn't going to be any drinking?" Joe asked with almost no emotion in his voice.

"Well, I, uhh." Ashleigh's words were slurred. "I wasn't planning on it. People did it. I mean, people just brought stuff."

"I know that's not true." Joe answered accusingly.

Ashleigh's eyes began to well up with tears. When girls get drunk, they usually get emotional and Ashleigh was no exception.

"I saw you dancing with Mike," Joe continued when Ashleigh didn't say anything. "You two seemed to be enjoying yourselves."

Ashleigh's emotions were all over the place. She got really defensive when he mentioned Mike. "I don't know what you're so upset about. I had a party, a few drinks and danced with a few boys. It's not like we're dating or anything."

Joe was hurt by her words. He knew they weren't dating, but it hurt him nonetheless to have that fact shoved in his face. "I never said we were dating or that I was upset. But you lied to me." Ashleigh buried her face in her hands again and started to cry. Joe was caught off guard by this sudden change of emotion and wasn't quite sure what to do. He hated to see her like this and did the only thing that seemed right to him. He positioned himself closer to her and put his arms around her. She welcomed his embrace and rested her head on his chest as she cried.

"I'm sorry. I'm drunk. I'm stupid." She rambled into his chest in between sobs. "I don't even know why you even talk to me. You're too good for me. I'm stupid and drunk and bad. You don't have to talk to me anymore. I'm sorry. You don't have to go to prom with me either." She took in deep breaths and Joe just kept holding her.

"I still want to talk to you. And I still want to take you to prom. You're not stupid," he reassured her. "You need to get some sleep." She nodded her reply and almost fell over back into her bed. Joe pulled off her high heels. He debated trying to get her into some pajamas, but he looked at her face and saw that she was already out. He pulled the blankets out from under her and covered her up. He watched her as she breathed peacefully. He leaned down and placed a kiss carefully on her forehead. After a few more minutes of watching her to make sure she was OK, he reluctantly left.

Back in his own house, in his own bed, he lay thinking about the events of the night. He wanted so bad to help her. His motivations might have been a bit selfish. He didn't want to her to be a 'bad kid' because he wanted her to be his girlfriend and it would be so much easier if she wasn't a partier. He couldn't figure out why he liked her so much. He closed his eyes and tried to forget the things he had seen.

If he was as lucky as Ashleigh, he wouldn't remember a thing in the morning.


	11. Chapter 11

**Mmmk. This one is kind of short. But the next one is PROM. WooHoo! Review? Please. Thanks. BTW: Suggestions are welcome.**

"Hey, Ashleigh, it's 8 o'clock." Kayley's groggy voice awoke Ashleigh from her dreamless sleep. Ashleigh rolled over in bed and covered her head with her blanket. The sun light pouring in the window was aggravating her already raging headache. "Come on. You're parents are going to be home in four hours. We have to get everyone out." Reluctantly, Ashleigh rolled back over and uncovered her head. She sat up in her bed and immediately her stomach lurched. She was uncomfortably nauseous but thought she would be able to get through the morning without getting sick. She looked at Kayley who was wearing a pair of Ashleigh's sweats and her boyfriend's hoody.

"Alright. Just give me a minute." She pulled herself out of bed and went into the bathroom. All the while she was brushing her teeth and tidying up her make-up she was trying to piece together her fragmented memories of the night before. It was moments before she remembered that Joe had been over. She knew he had been there but she wasn't sure when and she wasn't sure what happened. She hadn't intended on getting as drunk as she did and now she was kicking herself mentally, wondering what occurred between her and Joe. Searching through the bathroom cabinet, Ashleigh got three Tylenol and three Advil and swallowed them with a handful of tap water. Walking back to her bedroom she began undressing. The tight corset top had left imprints on her skin and she looked through her dresser for something comfortable. She settled on a pair of pink cotton shorts, a white tank top and a fitted, gray pullover hoody. She put her hood up, trying to hide her messy, curly hair.

"Come on, time to go kids." Kayley was gently waking the passed out party goers. They all were equally as pleasant as Ashleigh. In a few minutes almost everyone was awake, walking around the house in a trance, trying to find everything they had came with. In about an hour, after a group effort to find a set of missing keys, two cell phones and a lost earring, everyone was gone except Ashleigh and Kayley.

"Sorry to cut out on you early, Ash, but my parents will kick my ass if I don't make it to church today. You going to be able to get everything cleaned up?" asked Kayley.

"I think I'll manage," replied Ashleigh squinting into the sun. The pair stood in the driveway next to Kayley's car as Kayley got in.

"OK, well call me if you need anything. Great party last night. I'll call you later."

"Sounds good. I'll see you later." With that Kayley pulled out of the driveway and Ashleigh took a seat on her front porch steps. She put her head down in her hands trying to fight back the most recent wave of nausea.

Joe stood in his kitchen, looking out the window, watching all the cars leaving. Finally, after Kayley had left, he decided to go talk to Ashleigh. He was curious to see if she remembered anything from the night before. He quietly approached her and sat down next to her. Startled, but not really surprised, Ashleigh looked up at him.

"Rough night?" he asked nonchalantly. She didn't know what to say so she returned her face to its shielded position in her hands. Deciding not to pursue the issue just yet Joe went on, "Need some help cleaning up?" Ashleigh really didn't want Joe coming in and seeing the mess, but she knew she couldn't get it all cleaned up by herself before her parents got home.

"Sure," she answered bluntly while standing and turning toward the door. He followed her in and surveyed the damage. Over all, it wasn't bad for the aftermath of a high school party. There were empty alcohol containers strewn about. There were pillows and blankets all over the floor along with some miscellaneous bags of chips and other food wrappers. Ashleigh went to the kitchen and returned with a garbage bag. A totally silent hour and a half and three garbage bags later, the house was pretty much back in order. Joe ran the sweeper while Ashleigh went around opening all the windows and doors to air the place out. They worked together to move the furniture back and around eleven Ashleigh flopped down on the couch exhausted and Joe followed suit.

Joe didn't know what to say to Ashleigh, so instead of talking, he just sat and looked at her while she did her best to look anywhere but his eyes. She could feel his glare and longed to know what he was thinking. She thought frantically for something to say, but nothing came to mind. Finally, breaking the silence, Joe spoke up.

"You don't remember last night at all, do you?"

"Yes, I do, actually," said Ashleigh mildly offended. Joe shot her a disbelieving look and before he tried to prove her wrong she continued. "Well, I remember most of it. I know you were here. And I remember you in my room. But I don't remember any details really."

"Do you have any idea how stupid that is?" Joe was trying to stay calm but getting more and more upset by the minute.

"I was just having fun. Nothing bad happened. I don't get why you're getting so upset."

"You don't even remember talking to me last night. If I wasn't a nice guy I could have done anything I wanted to you and you would have been powerless to stop me."

"No you couldn't. You don't know what state of mind I was in. You've never been drunk so don't try to act like you know what it's like. I'm not stupid. I can take care of myself."

"You couldn't last night." Joe was getting angrier and angrier as Ashleigh brushed off what seemed like a really big deal to him.

"I don't need you to come over here and be a jerk to me."

"Well if you weren't so trashed last night, you would remember me holding you while you cried and tucking you into bed. But you drank so much, when you lied and told me you wouldn't be drinking, that you can't even remember what happened last night."

"Why are you making such a big deal out of this, Joe?" Ashleigh asked noticeably frustrated.

"Because I care about you , Ashleigh. Alright? I don't want anything bad to happen to you." Joe's voice was sincere and Ashleigh could tell, but she didn't want to concede to him.

"Don't act like you care about me. You barely know me. If you weren't stuck in Baylor, you wouldn't give me the time of day." She didn't know if she believed herself or not but it was best to keep her guard up. Joe was hurt by her words. He really did care about her but he didn't know how to make her understand.

"Listen, Ashleigh," Joe began, "I care about you whether you want to believe it or not. I'm not just paying attention to you because I'm stuck in Baylor. I've liked you since the moment I laid eyes on you. Tell me you don't feel something too? I've never felt like this before. I know you're not into the whole relationship thing, but I wish you would just give me a chance." Ashleigh focused intently on Joe's face during his emotional outpouring. She wanted to believe him, part of her did. But she couldn't fall for it yet. It seemed to perfect.

"I'm not your type, Joe. I think you've seen that." She was referring to the drinking and the partying. Something she'd been doing for a while and didn't really know how to function without.

"What do you mean you're not my type?"

"There are so many things you don't know about me. Things that if you knew, I doubt you'd even be wasting your time over here right now."

"Like what?" Ashleigh didn't answer his question. Instead she just stared at him, her eyes begging him not to make her explain. She already had to live with everything she'd done, she didn't want to have to admit it out loud. "Can I be honest with you, Ashleigh?" She nodded her reply. "I don't think there is anything you could tell me that would make me not like you anymore. I really don't think you understand how much I like you. I don't even understand it. Please, just tell me."

Ashleigh was fighting back tears. Deciding it would be best to get it all out, she began quickly rattling off her list. "I drink, I've done drugs, I've had sex. Things you've never even thought of doing. Alright? I've smoked weed. I've taken pills. I snorted coke on one occasion. I've gotten so drunk I've blacked out for hours. I've shop lifted. I don't do drugs or steal anymore. I haven't had sex for a while either. But come on, Joe. I'm a mess. Why do you want to even bother?" She refused to look him in the eyes as he stared for what seemed like an eternity.

"You're not going to convince me to stop trying. I don't care what you've done in the past. And we can work on the things in the present. Do you not like me? Is that it? If you don't want anything to do with me, just tell me." Joe was getting confused and worried. He wanted things to work out so bad but didn't know if Ashleigh would let it.

"It's not that I don't like you," said Ashleigh with tears rolling down her face. "I like you a lot actually." Joe was relieved to hear these words. "I like you more than I've ever liked anyone and I haven't even known you a month. That scares me to death. I don't want to fall for you and then it not work out. I mean, let's be realistic. You're Joe Jonas. And who am I? Nobody. I can't even believe I'm sitting here telling you these things." Joe ran his fingers through his hair and let out a exasperated sigh. He didn't know what to say to her to make her trust him.

"Be my girlfriend," was all that he could think to say.

"What?!" She asked, sure she hadn't heard him right.

"I want you to be my girlfriend," he said plainly, looking her directly in the eyes.

"Joe, I'm not sure I understand," muttered Ashleigh in utter disbelief.

"I want you to be my girlfriend," he repeated slowly. "That means we spend time together. You don't see other guys and I don't see other girls. We only see each other. You won't believe me when I tell you that I like you, so let me show you. Just give this a chance."

"I don't know," was all she could think to say.

"I swear to God I will do everything in my power not to hurt you. I know in my heart that we're supposed to be together whether you believe it or not."

"How could you know that, Joe? We've only known each other for, what, three weeks?"

"I don't know how I know it. I just do. Trust me on this. Just give it a chance. Please." He waited anxiously for a reply. He watched as she bit her lip, trying to decide what to say. Internally, she was debating what to do.

"OK," she said quietly. "OK." She squeezed her eyes shut tight. Upon opening them she watched Joe reach out and grab her hands. He squeezed them reassuringly and then pulled her into him.

As he wrapped his arms around her he said, "We're going to make this work. I know we are."

"I hope you're right."


	12. Chapter 12

**PROM is here! Yeah! Ok, this is a long one. And a bit cheesy. But hey, a girl can dream. Anyway, the next chapter is DRAMA PACKED!! So hurry up and review and maybe I'll update quicker. This is my longest chapter so I'm hoping I can get a lot of reviews. I also would like some new readers. Pass this story on to your friends! Haha. ENJOY! **

_Hey,_

_I know it's been a while, but things have been way too crazy to write. Prom is today. Can you believe it? My senior Prom is here already. Ready for the real shocker? I'M GOING WITH JOE JONAS. Yes, you heard me right. Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers. No, I'm not lying. Why would I lie to my journal? Haha. Anyway. I don't have much time to write. I have a million things to do today. So, I'll keep this short and to the point. I think me and Joe are dating. I'm not entirely sure. I mean, I'm pretty sure he asked me to be his girlfriend. And I think I sort of said yes?? IDK. I'm so confused about this whole situation. I like Joe a lot, but that doesn't mean things are going to work out. How could they possibly work out? I can't commit to a normal boy for more than a month. How am I supposed to make things work with a Disney Channel superstar? Not to mention the fact that he is like my total opposite. Yeah we have fun when we're together, but look at him and look at me. He's a virgin and he's never been drunk or done drugs. I've never been with a guy less experienced than me. I think it will just be awkward. I mean, we HAVEN'T EVEN KISSED yet. I've never dated a guy that I hadn't kissed first. IDK. I'm just trying to talk myself out of this. I haven't even told you about the good stuff. Like how we sit down at the pond and talk. Seriously, it's always like a scene out of a movie. He seems too good to be true. I feel like I can tell him anything. I like him soooo much. But what if I only like him because I want myself to like him? Am I making any sense? I'm confusing myself even more. Oh! And then I promised Joe I would behave myself after Prom, which really sucks because there's a big party. IDK what I'm going to do. We hung out like three times this week. Watched movies, went on a walk, went out for ice cream. The most intimate we got was holding hands. I know, exciting right? I did have a really good time though. But I have to go start getting ready. I'm nervous. AHHHH. I'll try and write tomorrow. PEACE & LOVE_

_ASHHHHH._

Ashleigh finished up writing in her journal and made her way toward the shower. It was eleven in the morning but she had an entire list of things to do. After a long and involved shower, she threw on a pair of shorts and a button up shirt of her younger brother's. She took her time getting ready, wanting everything to be perfect. She spent ten minutes applying moisturizer to her entire body. She grabbed her tweezers for some last minute maintenance on her eyebrows. She left her face undone, wanting to wait until closer to the dance before putting on her make up. When her hair was almost dry she called Kayley who was supposed to meet her to go get their hair and nails done at one.

"What it do?"

"Kayley, you're so queer. Are you almost here?" Ashleigh laughed at Kayley's habit of saying something weird every time she answered her cell phone.

"Yes, Mam. I'll be there in like a minute."

"OK. Hurry up. We ain't got all damn day, Darlin'."

"I'm on it." Kayley hung up and Ashleigh grabbed her purse and slipped on some flip flops. She checked herself in the mirror and silently prayed that Joe wouldn't see her in this state when she left the house. She was comfortable around Joe, but not quite comfortable enough for him to see her completely undone. She was already embarrassed by the fact that he had seen her completely drunk. Right on time Ashleigh heard Kayley pull in and rushed out to meet her.

"Step on it, Sister. These toenails aren't going to paint themselves," Ashleigh joked while getting in the car and buckling her seatbelt.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch. We have plenty of time. Put this in." Kayley handed Ashleigh an unmarked mixed CD. "It's a brand new Car Dance CD, courtesy of Krazy Kay Productions. I call this one, 'Pimp Shit Volume 2008.'" Just as she finished her dramatic introduction, Lil' Wayne's "Lollipop" blasted through the speakers.

"I said he's so sweet, make her wanna lick the rapper. SO I LET HER LICK THE RAPPER!" The girls screamed the opening lines in unison and erupted into a fit of giggles. On the highway they had the windows down, their hair blowing all around, and the stereo on full blast. It was half an hour to the nearest salon and they sang the entire way.

"Prom is going to be amazing. I am so excited."

"Me too," agreed Ashleigh.

"The after party is going to bomb. You still got the rest of the Goose from last weekend?"

"Yeah, you can have it. I'm not really in the mood to drink tonight." Ashleigh looked out the window, picturing the look on Kayley's face.

"Woah, woah. Wait a minute. You're not partying on Prom night?! I know you're not getting any since you're going with Joe, but come on!" Kayley joked with Ashleigh about Joe's abstinence promise, something she couldn't wrap her head around.

"I'm just not in the mood really. I don't want to be hung over on Sunday. I told Joe I'd spend the day with him since he can't come out after Prom."

"OK. What ever you say, Ashleigh." The girls finally arrived at their destination and went in to get beautified. Kayley got her hair done first while Ashleigh got a pedicure. Kayley wanted a dramatic and fun up-do since her dress was more party-ish and flirty than formal. Her hair ended up being all volume and curls. She _loved_ it. When it was time to switch Ashleigh described the look she was going for to her hair dresser. She wanted her hair completely down. She had been letting it grow for just this occasion. The hair dresser used different sized curling irons and rollers to get natural looking curls and lots and lots of volume. The finished product was exactly what Ashleigh had been looking for. She admired it in the mirror before sitting down at the nail desk to get he nails filled. Eventually the girls were done and on their way to get dressed, do their make-up and meet the boys.

They got back to Ashleigh's house around three thirty and were pressed for time. Though they were in a hurry, they took their time on their make-up. Ashleigh used dark browns and maroons to create a smokey eye look. Kayley used bright aqua shades of shadow that matched her bright dress perfectly.

"Time for the dresses!" Kayley squealed. "I left mine in the car. I'll be right back." Kayley ran out to get her dress and Ashleigh pulled hers out of the closet. She carefully unzipped the dress bag, making sure not to snag the dress. In mere seconds, Kayley was back and hurriedly pulling off her clothes.

"Slow down, Killer. It's only four thirty. The boys won't be here for another half an hour." Joe and Chris we going to meet the girls at Ashleigh's and they were all going to leave together in Kayley's dad's car.

"Exactly! We still have so much to do!" Ashleigh shook her head at Kayley's overreacting and unbuttoned her brother's shirt. "Zip me up please," requested Kayley. Ashleigh obliged and Kayley turned around to face her.

"I love it, Kay." Ashleigh was being totally sincere. The dress looked amazing on Kayley. It fit her fun and outgoing personality to a t.

"You're turn. Can you hook this top strap for me?" asked Ashleigh while holding her hair up. Kayley hooked the strap and Ashleigh let her hair fall back down into place. Her hair covered the straps, making the dress appear to be totally backless.

"Your body is kickin'!" Kayley commented while laughing. They both looked in the mirror together. "We are going to be the two hottest girls at Prom."

"Agreed," laughed Ashleigh.

"Girls! You're dates are here," Ashleigh's mom called up the steps.

"Mom, we're not ready! Stall!"

"Alright. We'll be waiting on the front porch. Hurry up. Us mom's need pictures."

Ashleigh touched up her make-up, helped herself to a hefty bit of super hold hairspray, put on her shoes and grabbed her clutch. Kayley was still touching up her make-up.

"Kayley! Hurry up!"

"You can't rush perfection," Kayley joked and Ashleigh rolled her eyes and looked out the window. She inhaled sharply as her eyes fell on Joe. He looked perfect in his tux. She had never seen anything like it before. She instantly got incredibly nervous. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. And there he stood, effortlessly looking perfect. She watched as he talked and laughed with everyone else, not looking nervous at all. Finally, Kayley was ready and the two girls carefully made their way down the stairs.

Before opening the front door, Kayley squeezed Ashleigh's hand reassuringly and smiled wide at her. Kayley opened the door and they stepped out onto the porch. Joe, Chris, Nick, Kevin, Joe's parent's, Chris's mom, Kayley's dad and step-mom, Justin and Marie were waiting in the front yard. The group applauded as the girls descended the front steps. Ashleigh walked over to Joe who was holding a corsage and beaming.

"You look so beautiful," Joe said while looking directly into her eyes. Joe's sincerity and intense gaze made Ashleigh slightly uncomfortable. She wasn't used to compliments like that. She tried to lighten the mood with a joke.

"You don't look so bad either." Ashleigh punctuated this statement with a small laugh and Joe's mouth widened into a grin.

"This is for you. I think. I'm not really up on formal dance etiquette. I'm sort of nervous." Joe blushed as he handed her the corsage. She slipped it on her wrist and asked her mom for the boutonnière for Joe. Marie and Denise were snapping what seemed like hundreds of candid shots of the couple as the interacted. They posed and posed and posed and posed for pictures. Finally, after almost 45 minutes they were done. As they were about to get into Kayley's dad's car, a limousine pulled up.

Ashleigh and Kayley exchanged surprised glances, then Ashleigh turned to Joe.

"I guess I forgot to mention that," said Joe sheepishly. Ashleigh and Kayley squealed and grabbed hands, hurrying toward the limo.

"This is amazing!" Kayley was peeking inside. "Come on guys!"

The group got into the limo amidst shouts of caution and to have fun. The limo ride was exciting for the girls. Music was floating out of the stereo and quiet conversations started up between each of the couples. Ashleigh and Joe were holding hands, facing each other. He wanted to kiss her, but wanted to wait. Ashleigh was interested in doing a little bit more than just kissing but knew that would have to wait for a while.

The limo pulled into the hall where Prom was being held and the excited couples got out. They lined up with the other couples waiting for the promenade where they would all walk down Baylor High's version of the red carpet and get their pictures taken by the 'paparazzi' (teachers and underclassmen). Joe and Ashleigh waited eagerly, holding hands. When their turn grew nearer, Joe seemed to be becoming increasingly nervous. His grip on Ashleigh's hand grew tighter. She couldn't understand why a high school prom was making him nervous when he'd been on stage in front of millions of people.

"Next we have Ashleigh Miller escorted by Joseph Jonas. Polite applause erupted along with gasps from people that didn't previously believe the rumors. They walked the 'red carpet' and smiled for the cameras as they entered the hall and sat at their assigned table. Kayley and Chris joined them seconds later and eventually the entire hall was filled with girls I fancy dresses and guys looking uncomfortable in tuxedos.

The meal was served and everyone talked and joked around while eating. Most girls were too busy taking pictures to bother eating. Finally, after the dishes were cleared, music started playing. Ashleigh had worried about this part all night. She loved to dance, but didn't know if Joe danced or not. She stood up from the table, held out her hand and looked at him expectantly. He smiled, stood up and took her hand. She led him to dance floor, followed closely by Kayley and Chris. On the dance floor they joined Jackie and her 'friend' Tommy. When they started dancing, Jackie leaned over to Ashleigh.

"So it is true. Ashleigh Miller! Why didn't you tell me this?"

"I, uhhh, wanted it to be a surprise." The girls laughed and kept dancing. Surprisingly Joe wasn't a terrible dancer. He was no Chris Brown, but he had some rhythm. He had his hands on her hips and was holding her tighter than Ashleigh thought he would. This was the closest they'd been and Ashleigh was not hating it.

Usher's "Love in This Club" came on and Ashleigh turned around to face Joe and rested her hands on his chest. His hands slid down and rested on her bare lower back. She danced seductively, and Kayley and Chris and Jackie and Tommy did the same thing. The entire dance floor was filled with inappropriate dancing and the teachers were pretty much powerless to do anything about it. The first slow song came on and everyone began swaying back and forth. Joe pulled Ashleigh closer to him and she rested her head on his chest. She was having the time of her life and didn't want that particular moment to end. Unfortunately, four minutes later, "You Got It Bad" was replaced with "Lollipop."

The entire dance floor started screaming the words. "Lil mamma had the swag like mine. She even wear her hair down her back like mine." The song was edited, of course. But the kids made up for that by screaming the profanity anyway.

Ashleigh and Joe literally danced the night away. Before they knew it there was only twenty minutes left. They went to their table to get a drink and Sarah, the president of their class approached Joe. Ashleigh introduced them, interested to see what she wanted.

"I was wondering and I know this is a lot to ask, but it would mean so much to everyone here, if maybe you could sing something for us." Laura was nervous and it was obvious that she was being forced to ask Joe to sing.

The question put Joe on the spot and he ran his fingers through his hair. "What did you have in mind?" he asked, trying to be polite.

"Well, the DJ has a music only version of 'When You Look Me In the Eyes.'" Joe thought about it for a minute and then answered.

"Sure."

"Oh great! Thanks so much. We'll get everything ready. It will be the last song of the night. Thanks again, Joe!" Sarah walked away excitedly to tell the DJ the good news. Upon hearing he'd be singing the last song of the night, Ashleigh got a little bit upset. She wanted to dance the last song with him.

In a few minutes Sarah walked back over with a microphone and told Joe they were ready when ever he was. He walked to the front of the hall and Ashleigh walked over to watch. He nodded to the DJ and the music began playing.

"If the heart is always searching, can you ever find a home? I've been looking for that someone. I'll never make it on my own." Instead of switching on and off with Nick, Joe sang the song by himself. Ashleigh watched as he sang and for some reason felt this sudden urge to cry. She didn't give in though. At the beginning of the second verse Joe turned his gaze to Ashleigh and she returned it fully, not sure what was giving her the courage to actually look him in the eyes. He began walking toward her and put the hand that wasn't holding the microphone around her waist. They danced together as he continued to sing. He looked directly into her eyes the entire time.

As the song concluded applause exploded and tears filled Ashleigh's eyes. It was the perfect conclusion to a perfect evening. Joe leaned down and kissed Ashleigh on her cheek, He returned the microphone and they gathered their things. After signing a few autographs and taking a few pictures, they four friends were back in the limousine on their way back to Ashleigh's. The topic of after prom came up between Ashleigh and Joe.

"So what are your plans?" he asked tentatively?

"I'm going over to a friends house. Don't worry though, I'm going to be DD so I won't be drinking. I told my mom I'd be home by four in the morning." She had planned what she was going to say and hoped it sounded OK, even though it was actually what she planned on doing.

"Alright. I hope you don't mind if I wait up for you. I want to make sure you make it home OK." He did want to make sure she made it home OK, but more importantly he wanted to see if that was really what she planned on doing.

"I don't mind." By this time they were pulling in to Ashleigh's driveway. Kayley and Chris said goodbye and left to go to the party. Joe walked Ashleigh to her door to say goodnight.

"I had the best time tonight, Ashleigh. Thank you." Joe's hand were resting on Ashleigh's waist, while hers were holding onto his jacket.

"You were amazing. Thank you for taking me."

It was now or never. Joe took one hand from Ashleigh's waist and used it to pull her face towards his. They kissed softly, and thought it lasted only seconds, it seemed like time had stopped. They pulled way and looked each other in the eyes. He leaned in once more and gave her a quick kiss and whispered, "Please be careful tonight."

"I will."

"Goodnight." With that he turned and walked back to his own house. Ashleigh was exhilarated. She ran to her bedroom to change. She put on a casual little strapless black dress. It was the kind of dress with the banded bottom. She rooted around in her closet for her highest black heels and pulled them out. While she was searching for them her eyes fell upon the bottle of Grey Goose Kayley had been talking about it. She looked at it and turned away. She grabbed her purse and her keys. After another moment of hesitation, she went back to the closet and grabbed the bottle, shoving it down in her purse.

Ashleigh got in her car and drove to the party. It was the beginning of what was going to be a _very_ long night.


	13. Chapter 13

**First, let me say- Thank you so much to all of my loyal readers and reviewers! You guys are so great! And as for this chapter…don't hate me when you read it hahah. But life's not always a walk in the park, right? Enjoy!**

Stepping out of her car, Ashleigh took a deep breath and headed toward the house. Resisting temptation this night was going to be _very_ hard for her. It would be different if it were just any other weekend. But it was Prom night. It would be one of the biggest and most fun parties of the year. Everyone would be there and almost everyone would be drinking. Ashleigh had plenty of experience and she knew it was not fun at all to be sober around a bunch of drunk kids.

Walking into the living room of Ben Tyson's house, it was apparent almost immediately that this party was going to blow Pre-prom 2008 right out of the water. Ashleigh couldn't help but smile at the scene. It was still early so nothing was out of hand, but _everyone_ was there. Similar to her own party, the house had been rearranged for the special occasion. She walked through the living room where the furniture had been pushed to the walls to make room for dancing and into the kitchen. Out of curiosity, she opened the fridge. It was stocked with all sorts of alcoholic beverages. She spotted an unopened bottle of water and grabbed it, figuring no one would miss it. She opened it and took a long drink, surprised at how thirsty she was.

"Hey, is there vodka in that bottle?" Sandra, a girl from school called out while laughing and sipping on a wine cooler.

"Haha, no. Just water. I think all the dancing dehydrated me," Ashleigh answered.

"I've got some Mike's Hard in the fridge. Grab one. It will quench your thirst."

The offer was very tempting, but Ashleigh turned it down politely and went in search of Kayley. She didn't have to look far. She was in the basement watching Chris and some other boys playing a game of pool. She leaned against the wall, nursing a bottle of beer who's label Ashleigh couldn't make out from the stairs.

"Ashleigh! Alright guys, the party can start now," Kayley yelled loudly as she spotted Ashleigh. They ran to each other and Kayley through her arms around Ashleigh, being careful not to spill her drink. "So, you're really not drinking tonight, huh?" asked Kayley, still unbelieving.

"Yeah, I'm just going to hang out and have a good time," answered Ashleigh with a twinge of regret in her voice.

"I guess that's cool then. Did you happen to bring that bottle?" Kayley's eyes drifted to Ashleigh's bulging purse.

"Yes, sir," replied Ashleigh while pulling the frosted bottle out of her bag.

"You can hold onto it for now. I've still got a few drinks to finished first. Want to see if we can get the dance floor going?"

"Sure, let's go." The two girls made their way up the stairs and into the living room.

"Ben! BENJAMIN!" Kayley called. He appeared out of the kitchen, opening another can of beer. "Can we put in some of our own music?" Ben was aware of Kayley's knack for making mix CD's and accepted her offer. "I call this one 'Pimp Shit Volume 2,'" Kayley said in all seriousness as she placed her CD into the stereo. After pressing play, loud music filled the house and people started accumulating in the living room.

"Hey Ash," called Zach, one of Ashleigh's former flames, as he slid his arms around her waist and started dancing with her.

"Long time, no see," Ashleigh replied.

"You're surprisingly…sober," Zach said as he realized she wasn't even remotely impaired.

"I know, right," she answered. "I haven't drank anything at all."

"Well, I can fix that," he said slyly as he pulled a can out of his back pocket, all while still dancing.

"No thanks."

"What?" he asked, genuinely shocked.

"No thanks," Ashleigh repeated slowly.

"Alright," he answered, still bewildered.

Ashleigh and Kayley danced nonstop for about an hour. Ashleigh was having fun but it wasn't the same as when she drank. She was way more reserved and conscious of herself. Kayley signaled to her that she was ready for a break and the two met in the kitchen after Ashleigh picked her purse up off the floor.

"Are you ok, Ash? You don't seem yourself tonight. You seem… preoccupied."

"I'm fine," Ashleigh said. "Really," she added as an afterthought after seeing the look on Kayley's face.

"Ok, in that case- let's break open that bottle!" Kayley resumed her cheerful mood. Ashleigh pulled the bottle out of the purse and Kayley seemingly magically produced two shot glassed out of nowhere.

"Oh, I don't want any, Kay."

"Oh, come on! One shot won't kill you. A toast to senior prom. Please?" Ashleigh couldn't ignore Kayley's pleading and conceded. Kayley filled the two shot glasses and they raised them into the air.

"Here's to being a senior," Ashleigh offered up.

"Here's to partying like there's no tomorrow," Kayley added. They clinked their glasses and swallowed the vodka. The familiar burning sensation traveled down Ashleigh's throat and into her stomach. "We should do one more. For the great boys in our life," Kayley choked out as Chris came up behind her and put his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

Ashleigh considered it for a second and answered, "One more, but that's it."

"Here's to Chris," Kayley started while lifting her filled again shot glass.

"And here's to…Joe?" Ashleigh threw back the second shot and couldn't help but giggle a little bit at the irony of the situation. She was toasting to Joe, who had basically begged her not to drink. After the momentary laughter, the guilt kicked in. She didn't have much time to consider it though, before the kitchen started rapidly filling up.

"Shots in the kitchen!" someone yelled and in less than a minute bottles and shot glasses filled the kitchen table.

Ashleigh looked at Kayley nervously and Kayley answered her with, "Come on, Ashleigh. You're only a senior once." That was all Ashleigh needed. She held out her shot glass as someone filled it with tequila, Ashleigh's weakness. She tossed it back, as well, followed by two more shots of the same amber liquid. With each shot, the guilt faded as she forgot about the boy waiting for her at home.

"Bathroom, Kay." In second both girls were in the bathroom. Ashleigh sat down on the edge of the tub and put her head in her hands, her mind temporarily cleared by the bright lights and momentary silence. "I feel so bad. I told him I wouldn't drink. And that I'd be home by four. I can't drive home. I can barely walk straight."

Kayley was taking all of this in while leaning over the sink and attempting to fix her make-up in the mirror. "I wouldn't worry about it, Ash. He's not your dad. You can drink if you want to. And Chris isn't drinking, so I'll have him run you home. You have nothing to worry about it. I say, we go out there are get as drunk as we can and have a good time. Like I said, we're only seniors once. We have to live it up."

Though Ashleigh knew it wasn't a good idea she decided to go along with Kayley. They stumbled out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. Ashleigh searched the refrigerator for the wine cooler she had been offered earlier. Once she found it, she opened in and took a long drink. Kayley smiled and coaxed a beer out of someone's hands. They went back out into the living room and began dancing again.

After two song and finishing her drink, Ashleigh began to feel the effects of all the shots she had taken. She swayed unsteadily on her feet and someone caught her, dragging her to the couch. She welcomed the soft cushions and in moments Kayley was by her side, equally impaired, holding out the bottle of vodka from earlier. Ashleigh accepted it and chugged eagerly straight from the bottle. Guilt was still nipping at her consciousness and she was trying her hardest to erase those feelings, or at least push them out of her mind for now. The vodka seemed to be doing the trick. What the vodka didn't erase, the Jack Daniels sure did.

The next thing Ashleigh remembered was waking up in the front seat of Chris's car. She had been passed out against the window when a bump in the road awakened her.

"I can't go home like this." The words were slurred and hard to make out but Chris understood.

"Kayley told me you had to be home at four. She insisted I take you." Insist, she had. She actually screamed when Chris said he didn't think it was a good idea. Chris was already out of the car and unbuckling Ashleigh's seat belt. He helped her to her feet and grabbed her purse.

Joe was watching this from his front porch. He hadn't slept yet. He had been waiting for Ashleigh all night and heard Chris's car pull in. He was confused at first because it wasn't Ashleigh's car. But as he watched Chris pull her out of the passenger's side, everything became clear. He hurried to her driveway to help.

"Hey, man," greeted Chris. "Kayley said she had to be home but now she's freaking out and doesn't want to go inside."

Joe slipped his arms around her waist to hold her up. "She can come to my house. I'll take care of her. Thanks, Chris." Joe sounded frustrated but Ashleigh was so inebriated that she didn't know what was going on. This was possibly the most drunk she had ever been. It was lucky for her that Joe's parents had left a few hours ago to go to his grandparents' house. Frankie was attempting to stay there by himself and had gotten scared. Joe's parents were going to stay there for the night to help Frankie get the courage to stay there on his own.

Halfway across the yard, Ashleigh passed out again and Joe as basically dragging her into the house. So many things were running through his mind. Like how she lied to him. How it seemed like she didn't even care. What bothered him most was what could have happened to her at the party. It seemed to him like he was trying so hard and she wasn't trying at all.

He struggled to get her up the stairs and just as he made it to his room she was slightly coherent again. He sat her on the bed and pulled off her heels. The whole scene was slightly reminiscent of the previous weekend.

"It's hot," she mumbled.

"You're not going to get sick, are you?" Joe asked while studying her face for any signs of nausea.

"No. I just want to sleep." Joe could barely make out her words as he moved to his dresser, looking for something suitable for her to sleep in. After a few minutes of digging, he came up with a big t-shirt she could wear. When he turned towards the bed he saw laying down and fast asleep. She had pulled off her dress and was curled up on her side. He contemplated his options. He gently shook her shoulder, trying hard not to stare at her exposed body. She wouldn't respond and he realized she wasn't going to be waking up any time soon.

Giving up, he covered her with the cover sheet and crawled under the blanket on the far side of the bed. He laid, staring at the ceiling for quite some time, thinking. Finally he started drifting off to sleep. Just as he was almost completely under, he heard, or thought he heard Ashleigh call his name.

"Joe," mumbled Ashleigh weakly with her eyes still closed.

"What? I'm right here." His voice was full of concern. He sat up and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm going to get sick."

Joe was instantly wide awake. He did his best to wrap her in the sheet and he carried her to the bathroom. He prayed silently for her to make it to the bathroom. It would be hard to explain the puke stain to his parents tomorrow. Luckily, they made it to the bathroom. He sat her in front of the toilet and sat down behind her on the floor. He was struggling, trying to hold the sheet up around her and pull her hair back at the same time.

In no time she was heaving, throwing up the entire contents of her stomach. Joe just sat their quietly, letting her get it out of her system. After a couple minutes, Ashleigh laid her head down on her arm. Joe took this opportunity to let go of her hair and rub her back. He was mad at her. No, mad wasn't strong enough to describe how he was feeling. He was _furious_. Though he was so upset, he couldn't help trying to comfort her and make her feel better. He didn't know what it was, but something wouldn't let him leave this girl alone.

"Done?" he asked gently.

All she could do to reply was weakly shake her head. The motion brought on another wave of nausea and the vomiting continued. To complicate matters, Kevin showed up in the doorway.

Rubbing sleep from his eyes, Kevin was noticeably shocked.

"Dude, what the hell?"

Joe looked up and instinctively tried to cover up Ashleigh better with the sheet that was draped around her. "She's drunk and throwing up," Joe answered bluntly, grimacing as Ashleigh threw up again. It seemed like it was never going to end.

"You're lucky mom and dad left."

"I know. I can't-"

"Water," Ashleigh interrupted. Her voice was raspy and her throat raw. Joe looked at Kevin and he left the doorway. He returned a minute later with a glass of cold water. Ashleigh eagerly drank the whole glass. The water triggered another onset of puking. But by now there was nothing left to throw up. She dry heaved a few times and then slid back into Joe's arms.

"I think I'm done," she whispered. Joe asked Kevin to help him and they both carried her back to Joe's room. They laid her on the bed and she fell asleep before Joe could even get into the bed.

By this time Joe was exhausted. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, only to be awakened by Ashleigh five minutes later.

"Joe," she croaked.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry." She reached out toward him with her eyes still closed. He moved closer to her and put an arm tentatively around her. Like this they fell asleep and would remain until the early afternoon.


	14. Chapter 14

**It's been wayyyy too long. I've been super busy and finally got my new laptop! WooHoo! But I promise I won't have any more super long breaks. I hope you like this chapter. It's...deep. Haha. Enjoy! And review please!!**

Ashleigh's eyes fluttered open as she struggled to focus her blurred vision. Unaware of her surroundings, she slowly surveyed the room around her, trying to figure out where she was. The fact that she was in her old bedroom mixed with the after affects of a night of binge drinking had her totally disoriented. She fought to keep her eyes open, trying to figure out whether or not she was dreaming. It wasn't until the fact that Joe's arm was resting on her waist registered that she realized she wasn't sleeping and she was in his bedroom.

Ashleigh was thinking hard, despite her raging headache, to recall the events of the previous night. The last thing she remembered was Chris buckling her seat belt. Everything after that was blank. She didn't have the slightest idea how she ended up in her current situation. She also didn't remember throwing up, but the painful sensation that accompanied every swallow made Ashleigh painfully aware that she had indeed thrown up the night before. She ran her hands over the skin pulled abnormally tight over her hipbones. She could tell she must have thrown up lot and was really dehydrated. Upon making this realization, she also realized she was only in her underwear.

She groaned and closed her eyes, trying desperately to remember something about the time she had unknowingly spent at the Jonas' house. After a few minutes of mulling over the fact that she had probably made a complete fool out of herself and that Joe probably hated her by now, she opened her eyes and spotted a t-shirt on the floor next to the bed. It was laying next to her discarded dress and high heels. She leaned over the edge of the bed and pulled it over her head. She had acted too quickly and she began to feel sick. She got up as fast as she could and ran to the bathroom.

The sudden movement awakened Joe but only soon enough to see Ashleigh's back as she rushed out of the bedroom. He got up and followed her to make sure she was OK. He went directly to the bathroom and pushed open the slightly ajar door to find Ashleigh kneeling over the toilet dry heaving. Her body convulsed violently but nothing came up. After it had passed Ashleigh glanced up at Joe and quickly hid her face in her hands. She did this half because she was embarrassed and half because the bright bathroom lights were aggravating her headache.

"Are you OK?" he asked tentatively.

"No," she choked out, her voice thick and raspy. She fought back tears, still refusing to look at Joe. He stood in the door way uncomfortably. Neither was sure what to do or say. After a moment of awkward silence Ashleigh pulled her hands away from her face and placed them on either side of her on the floor to prepare to get up. When Joe noticed what she was about to attempt he took a step forward and held out his hands. Despite her extreme embarrassment Ashleigh was glad to have the assistance. As he pulled her up she felt a familiar rush of dizziness but steadied herself the best she could against the bathroom sink.

They walked slowly back to Joe's room where Ashleigh perched on the edge of the bed, the whole time refusing to meet Joe's gaze.

"I should leave."

"You can't go home You're car is still where ever you were last night," Joe said blankly. The lack of emotion in his voice was due to the amount of thinking that was going on in his mind.

"Joe. What if your parents see me?" The thought of Joe's parents hadn't yet crossed her mind. But now that it had, she began to freak out.

Sensing what she was thinking, Joe tried to assuage her fears. "They're gone for the day. They weren't here last night either. So they didn't see you. And they won't see you."

"Joe, I'm so sorry." Tears began to creep back into her eyes. This time she failed at holding them back and two tears slid down her face. Her hands trembled as she wiped them quickly away. Joe wasn't sure how to respond and settled for an exasperated sigh. He ran his hands through his messy hair and Ashleigh couldn't help but marvel at the fact that he had just woken up and looked this good. The glance she had stolen in the mirror on the way back to the bedroom had revealed herself looking pale, despite her tan, with smeared eye make up and messy hair. "I tried. I did. I just… I can't. I can't do this."

Joe moved across the room and sat down next to her on the bed, but this time he didn't reach out a comforting hand or offer a shoulder to cry on. "You can't do what?"

"I tried not to drink. I promise wasn't planning on it. I don't know what happened. I couldn't stop." She paused and looked up at him. He was staring blankly ahead and she could tell he was really upset. She returned her gaze to her hands fiddling awkwardly in her lap and said quietly, "I don't even know how I got here."

"What do you remember?"

"Getting in Chris's car. Nothing after that."

"That could have been anyone taking you anywhere, Ashleigh. Do you realize how stupid that was?" Joe was no longer trying to hide the emotion in his voice. He was pissed off and wanted her to know it.

"I know. I know," she answered with he voice trembling. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me. I'm not the one who could have ended up dead in a ditch somewhere."

Joe's harsh words caused Ashleigh to start crying harder. He felt bad for making her cry but couldn't help but feel the way he did.

"You are making this so hard, Ashleigh." The frustration was evident in his voice. He stood up and began pacing the room.

"What?" she asked, confused by his last statement.

"Do you not like me or something? Do you just want me to leave you alone? Because that's what it seems like. You could just tell me. Because I'm sick of whatever game we're playing right now." His voice was raising at the same rate that Ashleigh's sobs were escalating.

"I like you, Joe. I really do." Ashleigh struggled to get out these two sentences between sobs. "I just… I don't know what my problem is. I can't stop this. I don't know. Maybe it makes me a horrible person. I'm sorry."

Joe saw the hurt in her eyes and tried to calm himself down. He sat down next to her again and this time tried to comfort her by rubbing her back gently while she cried softly into her hands. "I want so bad to make this work. More than anything, I think. I don't know why. I'm never like this. God." She was getting frustrated because she was being so emotional. She took in a deep breath and wiped away what she resolved would be the last tears she would cry in front of Joe today.

Ashleigh wasn't used to being this open in front of people, especially boys. She never let them see her with her guard down. She had also never had a relationship that lasted longer than two months or liked anyone as much as she already liked Joe. She was always the confident girl. The girl who played hard to get. Who didn't let boys get to her. Joe was taking all that away from her. She was completely out of her comfort zone for the first time since she started high school.

Similar things were happening for Joe. He was normally the happy-go-lucky brother. He was the one known for being silly and goofing around. But lately, it had been a different story. He moped around the house and spent countless hours locked up in his room just thinking. His family had noticed, but just chalked up to fatigue.

"You're not a horrible person," Joe tried to reassure her. "But why do you do the things you do? Why do you drink so much?"

"I don't know," her voice was steadier now. "It was just something we did. There was never anything else to do around Baylor. And the popular kids did it. My friends did it. Hell, everyone did it."

"Everyone drinks as much as you do?"

"Well, no. I mean, lots of kids got burnt out on it. Some got caught, others got tired of it. We just never did. It was new to me every weekend. Everyone likes Ashleigh with a bottle of liquor in her hand, you know?"

"So your friends only like you when you drink?" The conversation was getting heavy but for some reason Ashleigh felt fine discussing these things with Joe.

"No, that's not what I meant. It's just that I feel left out being the only sober one when everyone else is drinking and having fun."

"Blacking out and throwing up is fun? Can't you have fun without drinking?" Joe was glad she was finally opening up. He was doing his best to relate even though these were things he really hadn't dealt with.

"It's hard to have fun when everyone is out drinking. And I think we've realized I can't be around it and not drink." Ashleigh was admitting things to Joe that she herself refused to think about. Some of the things coming out of her mouth were shocking even to herself.

"Do you want to live the rest of your life this way? Do you see yourself living the rest of your life this way?"

"Well, no."

"When did you plan on quitting then?"

"I don't know, Joe."

"Quit now." Joe's suggestion wasn't rude but it was stern.

"What?" Ashleigh asked. SHe knew what he meant but needed the delay to think.

"Do you like me?" Joe asked bluntly.

Ashleigh was thrown off by the sudden change of topic and answered, "Uhh, yeah. Why?"

"I mean, do you really like me?"

"Of course I really like you," answered Ashleigh sincerely.

"Then quit now. I can hang out with you. I don't want you to drink anymore. Maybe it's because I'm selfish, but I can't be around you when you're drinking and I want to be around you all the time. I'll help you. I'll always be here. We can make this work. We have to make this work, Ashleigh." Joe's voice got quieter as his little speech went on. The last sentence was almost a whisper. Almost a desperate plea.

"Yeah, but what if it doesn't?"

"We can try."

"Alright, Joe. Maybe I'm not trying hard enough, but why are you trying so hard?" Ashleigh was struggling to understand why Joe was so deeply invested in a girl he had only known for weeks.

"I don't know," started Joe, obviously frustrated that Ashleigh was making this so hard. "I really don't know why I feel so strongly about this. I just know it's right. Can't you just trust me on this?"

The word 'trust' hit a sore spot with Ashleigh and Joe could see it on her face. "You know," she began, "I don't think you know who you're talking to. Nothing ever works out for me. Ever. And I actually like you. So it will only be that much worse when things don't work out."

"Ashleigh, listen. If things don't work out, it will only be because you don't want them to. I honestly can't see myself leaving you. Unless, that is, you want me to." As Joe said this he angled his body in closer to Ashleigh and put his hand on the side of her face to pull her gaze up to his.

"Alright. OK." Ashleigh's eyes fluttered shut in disbelief. She couldn't believe she was actually agreeing to something she was sure was going to crash and burn like every other attempted relationship.

Joe sighed in relief, smiled and rested his forehead against hers.

"Joe?" Ashleigh asked tentatively with her eyes still closed.

"Yeah?" responded Joe gently.

"Can I please take a shower?" The two exploded in laughter and it felt good to both of them to break the heavy atmosphere.

"Sure you can. I'll get you something you can change in to until it's cool for you to go home later."

"Thanks," said Ashleigh as she made her way to the bathroom. She was looking in the mirror when Joe appeared in the doorway holding a jumbled pile of clothes.

"I, uh, wasn't sure what would work for you, so, uh, here's some sweats of mine or some shorts of Nick's. Here's a couple of beaters you can wear. And here's a sweat shirt if you want it." Joe attempted to straightened out the mess of clothes and Ashleigh smiled at his mild embarrassment.

"That's fine, Joe. Thanks." She pulled the clothes out of hims arms and set them on the counter.

"No problem. I'm just gonna go get cleaned up in the other bathroom. I'll be in my room when you're done," finished Joe while shutting the door.

Ashleigh undressed and proceeded to shower. She took a pretty long time as she was trying to move slowly to avoid any bouts of nausea or dizziness. Finally, she shut off the water and dried off. Standing with her towel wrapped around herself, she tried to decide what to wear. She decided on Joe's sweat pants and put on both of the tank tops. She then towel dried her hair, gathered up her dirty clothes and headed back to Joe's room.

Joe had been out of the shower for quite awhile and was sitting at his computer. Ashleigh sat cross-legged on his bed and he spun around on his computer chair to face her.

"Your brothers probably think I'm some big alcoholic. I can't believe you brought me back here last night."

"I couldn't let you go home like that. And no they don't. I talked to both of them while you were taking your three hour shower. It's fine," Joe wanted to be able to put all of this past him and wanted Ashleigh to be able to do the same.

"Ughhh, I'm so embarrassed!"

"Don't worry about it, really," Joe paused briefly to watch as Ashleigh rubbed her temples with a pained expression on her face. "Maybe you should lay down and try to sleep a little bit more. I'll wake you up later and have Kevin take us to pick up your car. How's that sound?" Joe finished his proposal while walking over the his bed and pulling back the covers for her. Ashleigh slid under and rested her head on the pillows. Joe lay next to her, but on top of the covers, just long enough until she fell asleep.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey everybody! Here's number fifteen. Hope you like it. I had a special request from Whiteclick101 so hopefully she likes what I did with this chapter. This one is kinda light, fluffy, cheesy. You know-the good stuff. I figured we needed a break from the heavy stuff.**

**I have to say thank you so so so much to my reviewers! You guys are so amazing and you make my day. So keep reading and reviewing.**

**Oh and can I just say I am totally in love with the Burnin' Up video. I love it. What do you guys think? And as for the Camp Rock movie, it was OK. I love my Joe Jonas, but I wish it would have had more Nick and Kevin. It was pretty good anyway, though. OK, this is getting long. Go ahead and read.**

**Enjoy!**

The rest of the day went as planned. The boys took Ashleigh to pick up her car at Ben's house when she awoke from her nap three hours after lying down. She drove home and tried to play it cool, but her parents pretty much knew what she had been doing the night before. They let it go; figuring her hang over was punishment enough. Ashleigh was thankful and grabbed a glass of water before locking herself in her room. She wanted nothing more than to sleep but her restless mind wouldn't allow it. After an hour of laying in her bed and sleep escaping her, she turned on music and made herself comfortable.

After iTunes had been on shuffle for almost three hours, Ashleigh's phone vibrated around ten o'clock. Opening it, she smiled when she saw it was a text message from Joe. **Have fun at school tomorrow and I hope you feel better. If you're not doing anything after I was wondering if you wanted to come over**. Ashleigh mentally checked her schedule and couldn't remember if she had anything planned for after school. Deciding she'd rather hang with Joe than anything else she texted back, **Thanks. And sure. What time do you want me to come over?** After hitting send, she threw her phone down on the bed and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. In the middle of brushing her teeth she heard it vibrate and hurried to finish.

**How does 5-ish sound?** Ashleigh thought it sounded fine and texted back, **Sounds good. I'll see you then.** After shutting off the light and her laptop she climbed into bed and awaited Joe's reply. She didn't have to wait long before he texted back, **Good night.** She shut her phone without replying. Time to play hard to get, she thought as she smiled to herself. Even though she was pretty sure they were both under each other's spell, she didn't want to give in too easily. Now that she was over the initial shock of him being Joe Jonas, she wanted to make him work for it. Lying in bed Ashleigh thought about everything that occurred in the past weekend. She fell asleep thinking about her perfect prom, the crazy after party and the consequences.

She awoke the next morning in remarkably high spirits. She showered and got ready for school while singing and dancing to the poppy sounds of the Jonas Brothers. Most Mondays she would roll out of bed, throw on sweats, brush her teeth and head to school. But today was different. She took her time getting ready and actually put a little effort into looking decent. This change could be attributed to two things. One being that there were only a couple weeks of school left and Ashleigh wanted to leave a good impression at Baylor High. The other being that she didn't want to run into Joe looking like a total slob.

After getting ready, she went downstairs to wait on Justin. Running about five minutes late, Justin was finally ready and they made their way out to Ashleigh's car. Ashleigh looked around to see if maybe Joe got up to see her off to school. He didn't. She was slightly disappointed but knew it was a stretch to hope for in the first place.

The day at school went smoothly. There was lots of talk about prom and after prom. Everyone was sharing crazy stories and pictures. Since it was so close to the end of the year for the seniors the teachers didn't really care. Ashleigh wasn't doing anything in any of her classes which gave her plenty of time to daydream and talk to friends.

"Hey, why weren't you answering your phone yesterday?" Kayley asked as she sat down at her desk next to Ashleigh.

"I was at Joe's the whole day and my phone died sometime during the night and I couldn't charge it," Ashleigh answered.

"Ooh yeah, that's right. Chris was telling me about that. I'm so sorry, Ashleigh. If I wouldn't have been drunk and would have been thinking straight I wouldn't have made him take you home. What did Joe say? Did I ruin it?" Kayley was genuinely concerned.

"Oh no, everything's fine, actually."

"What? How?"

"Well, Joe took care of me all night. I don't really remember it but I'm sure he was really sweet. I threw up, Kay. Can you believe that? I haven't thrown up from drinking since that first time we got drunk! And well, in the morning we got into a fight, I think. But then we talked everything out and I think we're ok." Ashleigh left out the part about her promising to quit partying. Kayley would find out soon enough.

"Well, that's…unexpected. But I'm glad it's working out."

"Yeah, I thought about breaking it off but I didn't have twenty dollars to give you," added Ashleigh while making a face at Kayley.

Finally, a few hours later, it was time to go home. Ashleigh waited in the parking lot for her brother and when he finally got there she began speeding home.

"Ash, why are you driving so fast?" Justin asked as Ashleigh accelerated to 25 over the speed limit.

Ashleigh looked down at her speedometer and answered while simultaneously slowing down, "Oh, I don't know." She tried to sound nonchalant but knew the real reason. She was speeding home because that's where Joe was. But then she remembered she couldn't see him until five so there was no reason to speed.

Once they got home Ashleigh followed Justin into their house. Glancing at the kitchen clock, she saw that it was only two-thirty. She still had two and half hours to kill. She made her way upstairs and tried to pass the time.

First she opened a book she had been reading, but after half an hour of rereading the same page because she couldn't focus, she put it down and grabbed her laptop. Lying on her bed she decided to do some lurking. Navigating Safari to Google she typed in the keywords 'The Jonas Brothers'. Though they were her neighbors, she knew surprisingly little about their professional career.

Ashleigh looked first at their official website. Next she watched all their music videos and their silly videos on YouTube. She laughed hysterically and marveled at the way they didn't take themselves too seriously. Joe was especially goofy; a trait she didn't usually didn't look for in a boyfriend but that she was finding herself oddly attracted too. Returning back to Google she decided to do a more specific search. She typed in 'Joe Jonas Girlfriend' and hit search.

In .19 seconds Google returned 170,000 results. Ashleigh began at the top. Though most of the 'girlfriends' were just rumored and some poorly photoshopped, she couldn't help but feel excruciatingly plain compared to the beautiful girls he was photographed with. Becoming more and more discouraged with each website, she shut her laptop and looked at her alarm clock. It was quarter 'til five. Ashleigh made a silent resolution not to go over until at least quarter after. She didn't want to seem too eager. So with half an hour left she opened up her laptop again (exiting the web browser) and clicked on iTunes. She clicked shuffle and laid back on her bed and closed her eyes. Surprisingly, she didn't realize how fast time was going until her phone vibrated next to her at ten after five.

**Still coming, Dollface? **It was Joe. She smiled and replied, **Yeah, I'll be over in a few.** She hit send and tried to picture Joe's reaction. Failing, she resolved not to leave for three minutes. She stared at her alarm clock the entire time. It was the longest three minutes of her life. Finally the three minutes had passed. She stopped in the bathroom on the way out to quickly freshen up and then made the quick journey to the neighbors' house.

Ashleigh was happy to see he was waiting for her on his front porch. He smiled as she approached and greeted her with a casual peck on the lips. Ashleigh wasn't even sure it counted as a kiss; he brushed her lips with his so gently. Even so, it sent chills down her spine as she tried to hide her obvious delight.

"I hope you don't mind if we just hang out in my room," Joe said as he led Ashleigh to his room with a hand on the small of her back. "If not, Frankie will be attached at your hip. He thinks you're really cute." Joe punctuated this last statement with a laugh.

"Hey, Frankie can't help it that he has great taste in women."

"I knew it! You're using me to get close to Frankie. I'm going to have to have a talk with him. He keeps stealing my girlfriends." Joe smiled a devious smile, which Ashleigh returned.

By the time they were finished with their banter they were passing Nick in the upstairs hallway.

"Hey, Ashleigh," greeted Nick giving Ashleigh what she swore was a sympathetic smile.

"Hi," Ashleigh replied kindly, waiting until Nick was out of earshot to address Joe. "What was that look for?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Nick just gave me, like, a sympathy smile. Like he felt sorry for me."

"Nah, I doubt that. That's just Nick. I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it." Ashleigh decided to drop the subject as she sat cross-legged on Joe's bed; waiting expectantly for what Joe had planned.

Joe looked at Ashleigh and realized she was waiting on him. "I, uh, don't really have anything planned. I just wanted to see you; preferably when you weren't on your deathbed."

"Real funny, Joe," Ashleigh kidded. Spotting a laptop on Joe's desk she continued, "Hey, can I see that for a minute? I want to show you something."

Joe wasn't sure what she wanted to show him but he got up and handed her the laptop anyway. She made herself comfortable, stretching out on the bed, leaning up against the headboard and setting the laptop on her lap. She opened it and went straight to Google and repeated her earlier searches. It took her about three minutes, while Joe sat puzzled and curious, before she stumbled upon the webpage she was looking for.

"Well?" Joe prompted, getting anxious. He had positioned himself Indian style across from Ashleigh on the bed.

"You see, I was just looking around the Internet, ya know and I stumbled upon this website…" Ashleigh was drawing it out, trying to make Joe sweat. "According to the bloggers on JoeJonasFandotnet, you can't dance and are a horrible kisser."

Joe laughed and replied with, "Oh really, eh?"

"Really," answered Ashleigh, placing the laptop on the nightstand next to the bed.

"Well," started Joe as he crawled over to Ashleigh, "you've had experience with both. What do you think?" Joe was now close enough to Ashleigh that she could feel his body heat. She did her best not to get flustered.

"Well, I've seen you dance and you are pretty good. But as for the kissing, I don't think I've had enough experience in that department to form a concrete opinion." Ashleigh smiled and bit her lip. Batting her eyelashes. Playing the game.

"Maybe I can help you gather some research," Joe retorted coyly, placing a hand on either side of her and leaning in for a kiss. Ashleigh smiled as Joe's lips met hers. She leaned in, giving Joe the go-ahead to intensify the kiss. He picked up this clue and repositioned her and himself. He pulled Ashleigh by her hips so that she was lying with her head propped up on Joe's pillow. Joe laid next to her on his side with one hand resting on her hipbone. She was clutching his shirt pulling him closer, not caring if she was wrinkling it or not.

Things were getting sort of heated when Joe's hand drifted up to her waist, slightly pushing up the flowing racerback tank she had on. This behavior went on for about five minutes, which was way too short in Ashleigh's opinion, before Joe pulled away simultaneously sighing and smiling. Ashleigh got the impression he didn't want to stop but was making himself.

Joe asking, "Well, what do you say," broke her train of thought.

"There's room for improvement," Ashleigh answered trying to keep a serious face. Joe's eyes grew wide in fake shock and he began to pout. "Oh, shut up. You know I'm joking." She sat up and fixed her hair, which was a bit mussed, and Joe followed suit.

"I guess I'll just have to practice some more then," said Joe as he leaned in for another kiss.

Ashleigh jokingly pushed him away and replied with, "I heard you could get better practicing with the inside of an orange." Both of them laughed loudly and couldn't stop. The laughter brought tears to Ashleigh's eyes. When the laughter died down Joe continued his goofiness.

"Oh, so you think you're funny, huh? Do ya? I'll show you." Joe had a mischievous look in his eyes and Ashleigh started to giggle again. But before she knew it Joe pounced. He was on top of her in an instant, pinning her to the bed. "Take it back." Ashleigh shook her head no and continued to laugh. "Take it back!" Ashleigh just kept laughing, which seemed to fuel Joe's fake and over exaggerated anger. "You're going to be sorry." And she would. Joe began tickling her mercilessly. He didn't know it but she was incredibly ticklish. She laughed and squealed and screamed and squirmed under his weight but wasn't able to get up.

"I take it back! I take it back! You're a great kisser," she screamed while trying to catch her breath. Joe let up on the tickling but remained in the same position. He looked down at her. Her cheeks were bright red and her hair was a mess but she looked even more beautiful to him. He leaned down close to her face, still holding her down by the wrists.

"Are you sure about that?" he whispered as he kissed her.

He pulled back after a minute and she answered slightly out of breath, "Totally." He smiled and resumed kissing her.

Ashleigh would have felt comfortable doing more but this was moving pretty fast for Joe. He slid his hands from around her wrists and put them on the bed on either side of her. Ashleigh, in turn, put her arms around Joe's neck, pulling him closer.

_He really is a good kisser_, she thought as she playfully bit his lower lip. Kissing continued in this fashion for quite a while until Joe slowed down the tempo.

He kissed the corner of her mouth and then led a trail of kisses to her ear where he whispered, "I think you're the one who could use some practice." It was just like Joe to break the romantic mood. Ashleigh laughed and pushed him but he didn't budge. Instead he rested his forehead on hers, closed is eyes and said quietly, "I'm just kidding. You're amazing." He then kissed her forehead and finally let her up. Ashleigh sat up and tried to fix her hair again, while Joe picked up a remote from the floor next to the bed.

"Everything's going to seem boring compared to our previous activities, but you wanna watch some TV?"

"Sure," answered Ashleigh beaming. She was still in awe of the make out session. She had butterflies in her stomach and she didn't even know why. She was incredibly happy at the exact moment in time and couldn't stop smiling. Joe was exhibiting similar behavior.

The two watched TV, talked and laughed the rest of the night away. It was 9:45 before Ashleigh admitted she had a ten o'clock curfew on school nights. Joe offered to walk her home and she accepted. Standing at her door Joe was reluctant to let go of her hand.

"I had a really good time to night," he began, trying to stall, not wanting to say goodnight.

"Me too," Ashleigh answered. There was an awkward moment of silence broken by nervous laughter.

"Ok, well I was trying to stall, but I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Joe conceded. He leaned down and kissed her goodnight and pulled back.

"Goodnight," Ashleigh answered and stood up on tiptoes to kiss him one more night before going in.

Once inside she knocked on her parents' bedroom door to let them know she was home and then rushed upstairs. Shutting and locking her door, she hurriedly changed into her pajamas, flopped down on the bed and dialed Kayley's phone number.

"Kayley, oh my god. Listen to this..."

**PS: Idk if JoeJonasFandotnet is a real website or not. I just made it up for the sake of the story.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey all! This is a short one, kind of a filler and scene setter for what's to come. So read on and enjoy.**

**I have some other news…. I started a new fanfic!! Don't worry, I'll still be writing this one. But I had an idea and had to get it down. So I hope you all will check it out and leave me some feedback.**

**Love you guyssss!**

_One week later…_

"Senior Trip?! You're not serious are you?" Joe seemed incredulous that Ashleigh would even think about going on a senior trip.

"What are you talking about? Why wouldn't I be serious? I'm a senior. I'm graduating. What's the big deal?" From Ashleigh's tone you could tell she didn't understand why Joe was making such a big deal.

"Senior trip," Joe said to himself while running his hand through his hair. "That's code for getting drunk and having sex with random strangers."

"Oh, come on, Joe. You know I wouldn't do that."

"Do I?"

Ashleigh was hurt by his accusation. "What is your problem, Joe?"

"I think, given your past, that going on senior trip is a reckless decision. It would be different if you had any sort of self control—"

Ashleigh cut him off, "I do have self control!" Her voice was raised at this point. "I haven't drank or anything since I promised you I wouldn't."

"Oh, bravo, Ashleigh." Joe's voice was dripping with malicious sarcasm. "You've been sober a whole week. Let's see how long that lasts when I'm not there to take care of you."

"I was fine long before you came here, Joe. I don't need you to take care of me. And I didn't know I was such a burden." Her eyes were brimming with tears at this point and she was trying hard not to cry. She successfully fought them back, but not before Joe noticed how much his words were upsetting her. Ever since The Jonas's had moved to Baylor, Ashleigh had been on a rollercoaster of emotions and it was starting to take its toll.

Joe tried to soften his voice as he walked to where Ashleigh was standing across the picnic table by the pond. "I'm sorry. That's not what I meant. It's just that, well… Why do you want to be anywhere but here?"

"I don't know what you mean," Ashleigh stated with almost no emotion in her voice.

"I'm here. A week is a long time. I don't want to be anywhere where you aren't while I have the choice."

"Or maybe you just don't trust me and don't want me to be where you can't keep an eye on me." There was a hint of resentment in her voice while her arms were crossed sternly.

"No, that's not it."

"I thought I'd be doing you a favor."

"What are you talking about?" It was Joe's turn to be lost.

"It's the week Mandy is coming to visit you guys. Wouldn't it be better for you two if I wasn't here." The jealousy was apparent in her voice. She knew it wasn't really fair to Joe but couldn't help the way she felt about the situation.

"How do you know about that?"

"And I'll be lying drunk on the beach while you reunite with your long lost girlfriend." Ashleigh ignored his question kept going on with her little rant.

"Who told you that?"

"You'll sit here on our picnic table, holding hands, talking late into the night. I'll be in the club, on the strip, in some stranger's beach house."

"How did you know that Mandy was coming here?!" Joe was yelling now, frustration evident through his clenched jaw and fists.

"Nick mentioned it, alright? Jesus Christ. Were you not planning on telling me? Like I wouldn't have noticed."

"Why does it matter? I don't like her like that. I like you. Besides, you hang out with ex-boyfriends all the time."

Joe had a point. But it didn't stop the way Ashleigh felt about the whole situation.

"Whatever," Ashleigh mumbled, unable to think of anything else to say. If she decided to go on senior trip she would leave in two weeks, the day before Mandy was supposed to arrive. She really didn't want to go, but she brought it up just to see what Joe would say. When he got all fired up about it, Ashleigh couldn't help but push the matter further, even though she had pretty much already decided she didn't want to go. She moved to sit on the picnic table, avoiding looking at Joe and stared out across the pond.

"So are we going to fight about this?" Joe asked from a few feet away. Ashleigh ignored his question, still angry. Joe sighed, sat down next to Ashleigh and put his arm around her. She didn't move and pretended he wasn't even there. He rested his chin on her shoulder and kissed her cheek, trying to break the tension. Ashleigh felt her defenses soften and she turned her head towards his.

Sulkily, she admitted, "I didn't even want to go. I just wanted to see what you would say."

Joe smiled and replied, "So you just wanted to pick a fight?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Are you really worried about the whole Mandy thing?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"What do you want me to do? Call her and tell her not to come?"

"Pretty much, yeah." They both laughed and Ashleigh marveled at Joe's ability to cheer her up.

"So now that you're done being mad at me…" Joe began in his best attempt at a sexy voice. "…want to make out?"

"Joe!" Ashleigh exclaimed while laughing. Even though the idea sounded good to her, she was still playing hard to get. "I have to go break the news to Kayley. She's going to kill me."

"All the more reason to make out now!" he joked but got up with Ashleigh to walk her to her house. Hand in hand they made their way up to her house. Not saying anything, they just enjoyed each other's company. When they arrived at her door Joe tried to calm her fears one more time.

"Please don't worry about the whole Mandy deal, OK? I promise it won't change anything."

"I'll do my best."

"Call me tomorrow?"

"I'll do my best." They both smiled and kissed goodbye. Ashleigh went to her room and prepared herself for her impending conversation with Kayley.

"Promise you won't be mad at me and you won't hate me?" Ashleigh asked before breaking the news to Kayley.

"You're not going on senior trip, are you?"

"How'd you know?"

"I figured this would happen. I'm not mad. A little disappointed, but I think it's best for you anyway." Ashleigh couldn't believe her ears.

"You amaze me, Kayley."

"I know, I know. It's all in a days work. But I have to go. Chris is on the other line. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Alright. Bye." Ashleigh hung up, relieved that the conversation had went so smoothly.

After changing into her pajamas and getting ready for bed, Ashleigh laid back and closed her eyes. Sleep would come quicker than she expected, just like Mandy's arrival.


End file.
